There's no good excuse for drinking and driving. After decades of public awareness campaigns by MADD and others, and after companies like Uber and Lyft made ridesharing affordable and easy, there isn't any excuse to get behind the wheel of a car if you're under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Yet people do.

Drinking and driving causes way too many deaths and injuries every year. If someone else had made you or a loved one into a statistic, the law is on your side.

It's illegal to drive in Georgia if you're under the influence of alcohol, whether your BAC is .08 or higher or if you're a "less safe" driver because of intoxication. Drunk drivers can face criminal charges and jail time, and can also be held liable in civil personal injury cases, like those that our firm handles.

Juries can and do impose punitive damages on drunk drivers. Although the driving record of an at-fault driver is not normally admissible in a car accident case, Georgia law makes an exception for drinking-and-driving cases. If a driver was caught driving drunk before or after the collision, the driver's pattern of driving drunk can be admissible before the judge and jury.

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