We Sue Virginia Drunk Drivers | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

One piece of good news from the most-recently published compilation of Virginia traffic accident statistics arrived with enough qualifications to make readers question whether anything was worth celebrating.

Each year, the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles issues a Crash Facts report. For 2019, the DMV noted, “In Virginia, alcohol-related fatalities have fallen by 37 percent in the last three decades.” The decline resulted from a combination of changing attitudes toward driving under the influence of alcohol, safer vehicles and an increased legal drinking age.

Still, the DMV, continued, “The chance of being in an alcohol-related crash is one in six over the course of a lifetime.” That ominous projection is supported by these current realities:

  • 32 percent of all traffic fatalities in Virginia during 2019 happened in crashes when one or more of the drivers involved was intoxicated.
  • That same year, alcohol-related crashes injured 4,402 people in Virginia.
  • State courts convicted 18,648 people of DUI during 2019.
  • Each day in the United States, 28 people die in drunk driving crashes.

These numbers are why the personal injury and wrongful death attorneys with Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp commit to doing all we can to hold drunk drivers fully accountable. Decades of experience advising and represents clients who were hospitalized by or who lost family member to drunk drivers have shown us the terrible toll DUI takes.

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A partial list of our successful cases against drunk drivers all across Virginia appears at the end of this article. In each, our Virginia Beach-based law firm’s attorney worked to identify each type of available insurance.

When circumstances permitted and the client authorized us to do so, we also pursued the award of punitive damage. These are noncriminal fines that an at-fault drunk driver is ordered to pay in addition to compensating their victim for medical expenses, lost wages, reductions in future earnings, and noneconomic damages such as pain, suffering and loss of companionship.

We can never guarantee a win, let alone a maximum settlement or major civil trial jury ward. We always pledge to do all we can to deliver such an outcome. Individuals who make the reckless choice to drive after becoming intoxicated endanger everyone else on the road. When the worst happens, victims deserve strong legal allies who will fight for their rights to receive compensation.

Here is a look at what we have done for previous clients:

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