[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/butlerfirm.com\/blog\/dui-car-accident-settlement\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/butlerfirm.com\/blog\/dui-car-accident-settlement\/","headline":"DUI Car Accident Settlement","name":"DUI Car Accident Settlement","description":"Butler Kahn settled a car accident case for the maximum available insurance limits of $100,000.\u00a0 Our client, 69-year-old John Bedford, was on his way to pick up breakfast when he was hit head-on by a drunk driver.\u00a0 Our client\u2019s pickup truck overturned, leaving him trapped upside-down.\u00a0 Despite it being almost 8 a.m., the drunk driver… Continue reading DUI Car Accident Settlement<\/span><\/a>","datePublished":"2022-03-23","dateModified":"2026-04-17","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/butlerfirm.com\/blog\/author\/matt-kahn\/#Person","name":"Matt Kahn","url":"https:\/\/butlerfirm.com\/blog\/author\/matt-kahn\/","identifier":25,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e04949bdf1f2184cdeab337bb39535a4c17c4beb3ad3cd47e5524b20b38274a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e04949bdf1f2184cdeab337bb39535a4c17c4beb3ad3cd47e5524b20b38274a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Butler Kahn","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/butlerfirm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Butler-Law-Firm-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/butlerfirm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Butler-Law-Firm-Logo.png","width":210,"height":93}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/butlerfirm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/car-accident-300x200.jpg","url":"https:\/\/butlerfirm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/car-accident-300x200.jpg","height":"200","width":"300"},"url":"https:\/\/butlerfirm.com\/blog\/dui-car-accident-settlement\/","about":["Car Accident","Personal Injury"],"wordCount":497,"articleBody":"Butler Kahn settled a car accident case for the maximum available insurance limits of $100,000.\u00a0 Our client, 69-year-old John Bedford, was on his way to pick up breakfast when he was hit head-on by a drunk driver.\u00a0 Our client\u2019s pickup truck overturned, leaving him trapped upside-down.\u00a0 Despite it being almost 8 a.m., the drunk driver had a nearly half-empty bottle of vodka in her purse and was unable to follow basic instructions from the police.\u00a0 A breath test at the county jail revealed her Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) was 0.254\u2014over three times the legal limit for DUI. \u00a0Excerpt from the Police ReportMr. Bedford suffered a broken collarbone, which required surgery to piece together the multiple fragments of bone with a metal plate.\u00a0 The orthopedic surgeon told Mr. Bedford that he will likely never regain full mobility in his shoulder and that he may need a second surgery in the future to remove the metal hardware.\u00a0 Before the collision, Mr. Bedford was active and healthy for his age with no significant medical history.\u00a0 After several months of painful rehabilitation, Mr. Bedford slowly regained his ability to do routine activities of daily life.\u00a0 Now almost a year after the collision, Mr. Bedford is still unable to do the things he used to enjoy, like playing catch with his grandchildren.\u00a0 Despite the pain he continues to deal with on a daily basis, Mr. Bedford considers himself lucky to be alive after the head-on DUI collision. \u00a0Butler Kahn was able to quickly obtain a settlement for the full insurance limits of $100,000.\u00a0 In addition to compensatory damages, which are intended to repay damages like medical bills and compensate the victim for his pain and suffering, Georgia law allows victims of drunk driving accidents to recover punitive damages, which are intended to punish and deter reckless conduct.\u00a0 In drunk driving cases, there is no limit to the amount of punitive damages that a jury can award.\u00a0 See O.C.G.A. \u00a7 51-12-5.1(f).\u00a0 The drunk driver, in this case, was also facing felony criminal charges for causing these serious injuries while severely intoxicated.\u00a0 For these reasons, the drunk driver\u2019s insurance company had a strong incentive to settle the case.Unfortunately, the drunk driver only carried $25,000 of liability insurance coverage.\u00a0 Because the drunk driver was underinsured, Butler Kahn turned to Mr. Bedford\u2019s underinsured motorist insurance coverage before making any settlement offer for these minimal insurance limits.\u00a0 Although Mr. Bedford only carried $25,000 of underinsured motorist insurance coverage on the pickup truck he was driving, Butler Kahn was able to combine or \u201cstack\u201d this coverage with additional policies of insurance for other residents in Mr. Beford\u2019s household.\u00a0 These policies of resident relatives allowed Butler Kahn to recover an additional $50,000 for Mr. Bedford.\u00a0 By reaching a settlement with Mr. Beford\u2019s insurance company first, before offering to settle with the drunk driver\u2019s insurance company, Butler Kahn preserved our client\u2019s claims for punitive damages and maximized our client\u2019s financial recovery. 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