Whenever an accident occurs, the law will be used to determine which party was at fault, and that party will be held responsible for any injuries or damages that result from the accident. This means that if you are involved in a car accident and you require medical treatment from the hospital for your injuries, a successful lawsuit that proves that another driver was at fault in the accident could mean that the other driver must pay for your medical bills.
There are a few different concepts that might be used in order to determine fault and liability, the most common of which is likely negligence. Negligence refers to any instance in which another person violated a duty of care and thus caused injury to someone else. When a person chooses to drive drunk, they are certainly breaching a duty of care to other drivers, but negligence is not often used to determine liability in a drunk driving accident.
The concept of recklessness applies to instances in which a person knew that their actions would likely cause harm to others, or even that they should have known. Because the dangers of drunk driving are so well documented, it is generally assumed that any drunk driver should have known that his or her actions were likely to cause harm. As a result, individuals convicted of driving drunk are often considered reckless in an accident, and thus liable.
If you have been involved in an accident in Tennessee, and you believe that the other driver was intoxicated, consider meeting with an attorney. Proving that another driver was drunk all but guarantees that the drunk driver will be held liable for the accident, allowing you to recover the compensation you deserve for your injuries.