Drunk Underinsured Driver Forever Changes Lives Of Couple

Andy and Selene* were on their way to a dinner date together when a drunk, underinsured driver crashed into them and forever changed their lives.

The drunk driver had recently finished his work shift at a bar and restaurant.  His employer gave him multiple shots of whisky while he was actively on the clock.  He then decided to stay at his bar to make use of his free “shift drinks” – another shot or two of whisky. After finishing his shift drinks, a coworker drove him to another bar for more drinking.  He was described as being “very clearly intoxicated” right after arriving at the second bar, and was driven back to his place of work afterwards. He walked back into his bar, had an altercation with another coworker, and was then allowed to get into his car to drive home.

The drunk driver approached a red light on his drive home. Instead of stopping, he drove around several stopped cars and sped through the intersection, slamming into Andy and Selene’s car.  The crash rammed  Andy and Selene’s car into a utility pole, breaking the utility pole at the base. As Andy and Selene were trapped in their car, the drunk driver jumped out of his car and fled the scene on foot.  The police eventually caught him, and he was described as being “drunk as a skunk.” The drunk driver’s blood alcohol (“BAC”) came back as 0.22, nearly three times the legal limit.

The crash injured both Selene and Andy.  Selene’s pelvis was fractured in multiple places, requiring surgery.  She had also sustained an injury to her wrist, lacerations to her eye and eyelid, and later needed surgery to remove glass from her eye. Her injuries required her to remain in the hospital for four days following the crash. Andy suffered broken ribs and profound emotional distress from the trauma of the collision.  Both Selene and Andy lost a significant amount of wages due to the collision injuries.

Selene and Andy led physical lives before the collision. Selene played disc golf twice a week, walked their dogs, and went running multiple times each week. Andy went hiking every other weekend, lifted weights five times a week, walked and ran their dogs every day, bicycled, and overall stayed incredibly active.  Neither has been able to fully return to their active lifestyles.

We first brought a claim against the drunk driver’s insurance for the injuries and losses sustained by Selene and Andy.  We secured settlements for both Selene and Andy for the drunk driver’s full liability insurance policy limits. We then made Underinsured Motorist claims against Selene and Andy’s own car insurance, as the drunk driver’s insurance was not high enough to fully compensate Selene and Andy for their losses.  After negotiating Underinsured Motorist settlements for Selene and Andy, we prosecuted claims against the bars that illegally overserved the drunk driver.

Oregon has laws that prohibit bars from serving customers after they become visibly impaired.  These statutes are called by the antiquated term “dram shop” laws. (“Dram” probably comes from the Scottish term for a small drink of whisky or other spirits; a “dram shop” was an establishment that sold alcoholic beverages).   Dram shop laws are civil liability statutes that sometimes can make an alcohol provider liable for the harmful acts of its intoxicated customers when the establishment acts negligently (particularly in serving a visibly intoxicated person more alcohol), and the drunk then causes harm to someone else as a result of their intoxication.  The classic example is the kind of harm seen in Selene and Andy’s case: drunk driving crashes that cause injury to others.

“Dram shop cases” are forensically challenging, because many people understandably focus just on the drunk driver.  Dram shop laws are often society’s last line of defense against drunks causing injuries and deaths on the roads.  When a person’s judgment is impaired by alcohol, we need the good judgment of alcohol servers and businesses to follow the law.  In order to keep us all safer, we need to be able to hold accountable both individuals who choose to drive while intoxicated, and businesses who chose to violate Oregon laws that are intended to protect us all from unnecessary harm.

The final stage of Selene and Andy’s cases was to successfully make claims against the two bars that illegally overserved the drunk driver.   

Client names and identifying details have been changed to protect confidentiality.