Few details were available after a buggy and motor vehicle crashed into each other in the western part of Barren County.
A male subject was being transported to T.J. Samson Hospital for a blood draw. Several children, including one as young as 1-year-old, were involved in the crash. One person was flown from the scene to Vanderbilt University Hospital.
It’s unclear how many people are involved and the extent of their injuries.
Evidence in Car Crash Claims
Proof is critical in a vehicle collision claim. Evidence must establish an ordinary negligence claim, and evidence maximizes compensation in a negligence per se claim. More on these theories below.
Preliminary evidence in a car crash claim usually includes immediately-available medical bills, party statements from each driver (assuming they both survived and were able to give statements), and the preliminary police accident report.
As a rule of thumb, “preliminary” findings are often inaccurate. If you see a toddler standing next to a cake on the floor, you might assume the toddler was responsible, until you see cake and frosting on the dog’s mouth and paws.
Party statements are a good example. Victims and tortfeasors (negligent drivers) rarely lie. However, like the rest of us, they remember things selectively. Disinterested witnesses, which an attorney must locate later, often have a much different perspective. To speed up this identification process, many Lexington personal injury lawyers work with private investigators.
Witness statements, advanced medical records, and a final police report aren’t the only subsequent evidence in a car crash claim. Electronic evidence, mostly from a vehicle’s Event Data Recorder, isn’t available until much later.
Due to vehicle information privacy laws, a lawyer must convince a judge to issue an appropriate court order. That’s not easy to do, especially since an insurance company lawyer almost always opposes this request. 
First Party Liability in Alcohol-Related Wrecks
As mentioned, the negligence per se rule or the ordinary negligence doctrine could establish liability in an alcohol-related collision.
The time-saving negligence per se doctrine often applies in alcohol-related crashes. Tortfeasors (negligent drivers) are liable for damages as a matter of law if:

They violate the DUI law or another safety law, and
That violation substantially causes injury.

Negligence per se usually applies in civil court even if the tortfeasor “beats” the criminal charges. In the above story, it appears that authorities extracted a blood sample from an unconscious or semi-conscious defendant. Unless officers had a search warrant, that blood sample is inadmissible in criminal court. However, in civil court, the jury determines all relevant facts.
A negligence per se claim only has two prongs. In contrast, an ordinary negligence claim has four prongs: duty, breach, cause, and damages. Lawyers typically use circumstantial evidence to establish the facts in these cases. This proof includes:

Erratic driving before the wreck,
Physical symptoms, such as unsteady balance and an odor of alcohol,
Tortfesor’s statements about alcohol consumption, and
A recent visit to a place that served alcohol.

The burden of proof in an ordinary negligence claim is a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). If the tortfeasor was at a bar before the wreck, it’s more likely than not that the tortfeasor had at least one drink there.
One drink is all it takes for alcohol impairment. The impairing effects of alcohol include poor judgment and slow motor skills.
Third Party Liability
When experienced Lexington personal injury lawyers evaluate alcohol-related wrecks, they immediately think “dram shop liability.” Bars, restaurants, and other commercial providers are financially responsible for car crash damages if they knowingly served alcohol to an intoxicated person who later caused a wreck.
Foreseeability, or possibility, of injury is often the biggest issue in dram shop claims. That’s especially true if the tortfeasor bought packaged alcohol at a place like a grocery or convenience store. Usually, it’s foreseeable that a person will open a can of beer and drink it on the way home.
The same low standard of evidence, a preponderance of the proof, applies in these situations. So, a little evidence goes a long way.
Injury victims are usually entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Lexington, contact the Goode Law Office, PLLC. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters. The post Alcohol-Related Crash in Beckton first appeared on Goode Law Office, PLLC.