Hit by a Drunk Driver in Birmingham: Your Rights as a DUI Crash Victim

If you suspect the other driver is intoxicated after a crash in Birmingham, tell the 911 dispatcher immediately. Describe any signs of intoxication: slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, the smell of alcohol, open containers in the vehicle, erratic behavior, or difficulty standing. This information is relayed to responding officers, who will conduct field sobriety tests and potentially a breathalyzer or blood draw.

Do not confront an intoxicated driver. Stay in your vehicle or move to a safe location. Drunk drivers can be unpredictable and aggressive. Wait for Birmingham PD or Alabama State Troopers to arrive. The officer's documentation of the driver's intoxication — BAC results, field sobriety test performance, and observations of impairment — becomes critical evidence in your civil injury claim.

Alabama's legal BAC limit is 0.08% for drivers 21 and older, 0.02% for drivers under 21, and 0.04% for commercial vehicle drivers. Any BAC above these limits is per se DUI. But even a BAC below 0.08% can support a DUI charge if the driver shows impairment.

In addition to standard accident documentation — photos of vehicle damage, road conditions, injuries, and witness information — document anything that suggests intoxication. If it is safe to do so, note and photograph open containers, damaged bar receipts, or any other evidence of drinking. If the driver admits to drinking, note exactly what they said.

Witnesses are especially valuable in drunk driving cases. Other drivers or passengers who observed the drunk driver weaving, running red lights, driving the wrong way, or speeding before the crash can provide testimony that supports both the criminal DUI charge and your civil claim. Get names and phone numbers from every witness.

If you have a dashcam, the footage may show the drunk driver's erratic behavior before the crash. Preserve this immediately. Check whether nearby businesses have surveillance cameras that may have captured the driver's behavior.

Drunk driving crashes tend to produce more severe injuries than other car accidents because impaired drivers often fail to brake before impact, resulting in higher-speed collisions. They are also more likely to cause head-on collisions and wrong-way crashes. Common injuries include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, multiple fractures, internal organ damage, and facial reconstruction injuries.

Go to UAB Hospital — Birmingham's Level I Trauma Center — for severe injuries. For less critical injuries, Grandview Medical Center, Princeton Baptist, or any Birmingham ER can provide initial treatment. Tell the doctor you were hit by a suspected drunk driver and describe all symptoms. Follow every treatment recommendation.

Keep all medical records, bills, and receipts. In a DUI case, your damages may include not just medical expenses and lost wages, but also punitive damages designed to punish the drunk driver. Thorough documentation of injury severity supports a larger recovery.

Alabama's pure contributory negligence rule normally means that if you were even 1% at fault, you recover $0. This is one of the harshest rules in American law. But Alabama courts have long recognized an exception: wanton misconduct. When the at-fault driver's conduct goes beyond ordinary negligence to become reckless, wanton, or willful, the contributory negligence defense does not apply in the same way.

Drunk driving is a strong candidate for wanton misconduct. Choosing to drive while intoxicated shows a conscious disregard for the safety of others. Alabama courts have repeatedly found that driving with a high BAC, combined with dangerous driving behavior, can constitute wanton misconduct. This does not guarantee the exception applies in every DUI case — the specific facts matter — but it is your strongest argument against a contributory negligence defense.

Proving wanton misconduct requires showing that the drunk driver was aware of the risk their conduct posed and proceeded anyway. The BAC level, whether the driver had prior DUI convictions, how far they drove while impaired, and how recklessly they were driving all factor into the analysis. An experienced attorney will build this argument to overcome the contributory negligence bar.

Alabama's dram shop law (Ala. Code § 6-5-71) allows you to sue a bar, restaurant, or alcohol vendor that unlawfully sold or served alcohol to a person who then caused your injuries. The key is proving the establishment sold alcohol to someone who was visibly intoxicated or underage. Alabama's dram shop statute requires that the sale itself was unlawful — either the person was a minor or was already visibly intoxicated when served.

Dram shop claims add a potentially deep-pocketed defendant to your case. A bar or restaurant likely has commercial liability insurance with higher limits than the drunk driver's personal auto policy. If the drunk driver's insurance is minimal or they are uninsured, the dram shop claim may be your primary source of meaningful compensation.

Proving a dram shop claim requires evidence that the bar served the driver while visibly intoxicated. Bar receipts, credit card statements, witness testimony from other patrons or staff, and surveillance footage from the establishment can all support the claim. An attorney experienced in dram shop cases will move quickly to preserve this evidence before it is destroyed.

The DUI criminal case and your civil injury claim are separate proceedings. The criminal case is brought by the state and can result in jail time, fines, and license revocation. Your civil case is brought by you and seeks money damages for your injuries. You do not need a criminal conviction to pursue civil damages.

However, a criminal DUI conviction is powerful evidence in your civil case. If the driver pleads guilty or is convicted of DUI, it is very difficult for their insurance company to argue they were not at fault. Even without a conviction, the arrest, BAC results, and officer observations can be used as evidence in your civil claim.

Punitive damages may be available in your civil case. Unlike compensatory damages (medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering), punitive damages are designed to punish the drunk driver for reckless behavior and deter others. Alabama does not cap punitive damages in most personal injury cases, though the U.S. Supreme Court has set constitutional limits on excessive ratios.

Injured by a drunk driver in Birmingham? Take our free 2-minute assessment. Answer a few questions about the accident, the driver's intoxication, your injuries, and your insurance coverage. We will provide a personalized report covering the wanton misconduct exception, dram shop liability, potential punitive damages, and what your claim may be worth. We will connect you with a Birmingham attorney experienced in DUI victim cases.

Being hit by a drunk driver is infuriating. Someone made a reckless choice, and you are paying for it with pain, medical bills, and lost time. Alabama law gives you tools that most car accident victims do not have — the wanton misconduct exception and dram shop liability. Use them. Start with the assessment. It is free, confidential, and takes two minutes.