Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer in Brunswick, GA

A drunk driver made a choice, and you are the one paying for it. A drunk-driving injury claim is not an ordinary car-accident case: against an impaired driver, Georgia law lets a jury punish that choice with damages that have no cap.

Boyd Law Firm represents the people drunk drivers hurt, including injured drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and the families of those killed, in Brunswick and throughout Southeast Georgia. We investigate what happened, prove the driver’s impairment, and find every layer of insurance.

What to Do After a Drunk Driving Accident in Georgia

The driver’s impairment is provable, but the proof is perishable. The steps you take in the hours and days after the crash directly affect your claim.

Call 911 and make sure police document impairment. Field-sobriety results and the breath or blood test become central evidence.
Seek medical attention immediately, even if you feel okay.
Preserve the arrest and chemical-test records. The BAC result and any bodycam footage are the backbone of the uncapped punitive-damages claim.
Identify witnesses, including any bar or restaurant. Footage showing where the driver was drinking can open a separate avenue against the provider.
Do not give a recorded statement to the driver’s insurer before talking to a lawyer.

Contact Boyd Law Firm early. The sooner we’re involved, the more evidence we can preserve.

Punitive Damages in Georgia Drunk-Driving Cases

This is what sets a drunk-driving claim apart from any other car wreck. Most damages are compensatory: medical bills, lost income, and pain. Punitive damages exist to punish and deter conduct that shows willful misconduct or “conscious indifference to consequences.” Driving drunk is the textbook example.

In most Georgia cases, punitive damages are capped at $250,000 under OCGA §51-12-5.1(g). But subsection (f) carves out an explicit exception for a defendant who acted while substantially impaired by alcohol or drugs: against the drunk driver there is no cap. That single fact is the legal engine of these cases.

Economic damages: medical bills, lost wages, and out-of-pocket costs.
Non-economic damages: pain and suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Punitive damages, uncapped against the impaired driver under OCGA §51-12-5.1(f).
Wrongful-death and estate damages: if the crash was fatal, the family can recover the “full value of the life” of the person killed.

Your civil claim is separate from the criminal DUI case. You do not have to wait for the prosecution to finish, and a conviction is not required, because the civil burden of proof is lower. A separate avenue, dram-shop liability against a bar or host who over-served the driver, may also apply.

Dealing with the Insurance Company

The drunk driver’s insurer is not on your side. Even with a DUI on record, their goal is to settle for as little as possible before anyone has valued the punitive exposure.

Fast, lowball offers pushed before the punitive value of an uncapped DUI claim is on the table.
Shifting blame onto you under Georgia’s modified comparative-negligence rule. You can recover only if you were less than 50% at fault.
Hiding behind a minimum policy: treating a $25,000 state-minimum limit as the ceiling, when other coverage layers may be available.

There is rarely a single source of money: the at-fault driver’s liability policy, your own UM/UIM coverage, and potentially the bar or restaurant that over-served the driver. Once Boyd Law Firm is handling your case, all insurer communication goes through us.

Frequently Asked Questions About Drunk Driving Accidents in Georgia

Are punitive damages capped in a Georgia drunk-driving case?

No. Georgia’s general $250,000 punitive-damages cap under OCGA 51-12-5.1(g) does not apply when the defendant was driving under the influence. Subsection (f) removes the limit for an impaired active tort-feasor, so punitive damages against the drunk driver are uncapped.

Do I have to wait for the DUI criminal case to finish before I sue?

No. Your civil claim is separate and you control it. You can file while the criminal case is pending, and a criminal conviction is helpful but not required, because the civil burden of proof is lower than the criminal one.

What is the difference between suing the driver and a dram-shop claim?

Suing the driver is your direct claim against the drunk driver. A dram-shop claim is a separate theory against the bar, restaurant, or host who over-served the driver. The two often appear in the same lawsuit but are distinct.

What if the drunk driver has little or no insurance?

Georgia only requires $25,000 per person in bodily-injury coverage, which rarely covers a serious DUI injury. Your own uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage can fill the gap, and a dram-shop defendant may add another source.

Can I recover if a drunk driver killed a family member?

Yes. Georgia law allows a wrongful-death claim for the full value of the life of the person killed, and the estate can separately recover medical, funeral, and pre-death pain-and-suffering damages. Uncapped punitive exposure also applies.

How long do I have to file a drunk-driving injury claim in Georgia?

Generally two years from the date of the crash under OCGA 9-3-33. The clock can be paused under OCGA 9-3-99 while the criminal DUI prosecution is pending, but tolling is fact-specific, so you should never count on it.

Serving Brunswick and Southeast Georgia

Coastal Georgia carries a particular drunk-driving risk. Brunswick sits where Interstate 95 meets US-17, mixing high-speed through-traffic with heavy seasonal tourism. The late-night, weekend, and holiday crashes that cluster around busy nightlife are exactly when impaired-driving collisions happen. Boyd Law Firm handles drunk-driving injury cases across Glynn, Camden, Brantley, Liberty, Wayne, and McIntosh counties.

Free Consultation
No Fee Unless We Win

Talk to us before you talk to the insurance company. The consultation is free, there’s no obligation, and you pay nothing unless we win your case.

Call (912) 265-5069 or submit your case details online.

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912-265-5069