Legal Analysis By Attorneys
Breaking Legal News
A man was critically injured in a suspected drunk driver accident when a car crashed into his golf cart on the MacArthur Causeway near Fountain Street in the early hours of Saturday, November 3.
Miami Police said the crash happened at around 5 a.m. in the westbound lanes of the causeway, near Fountain Street. The man was reportedly ejected from the golf cart upon impact.
20-year-old Paloma Guelfi has been identified as the driver and faces several DUI-related charges.
The victim, whose name and age have not been released, was hospitalized at Jackson Memorial Hospital with head injuries.
The causeway was closed for almost 10 hours while police investigated the crash.
Guelfi appeared in court on Sunday afternoon and is being held on a $10,000 bond.
People who have been injured by drunk drivers need and deserve financial compensation for the personal and financial setbacks they've suffered as a result of their injuries. Here is attorney Michael Haggard with some information on the financial compensation options available to people injured by drunk drivers in Florida:
The legal options available to drunk driving injury victims depend on the state where the crash occurred. In several states, these victims may have grounds for lawsuits against two parties - the driver who injured them and the alcohol vendor who provided alcohol to that driver.
Personal injury lawsuits can be filed against drunk drivers, while alcohol vendors can be held liable in some crashes under dram shop lawsuits.
According to Florida dram shop laws, an alcohol vendor can be sued for providing alcohol to a drunk driver who caused injuries to someone else if the drunk driver was under 21 years of age or "habitually addicted" to alcohol.
For example, let's imagine that Tanya is 20 years old and goes to Blue Bar for some drinks. The bartender knows that Tanya is underage, but serves her alcohol anyway. Tanya then leaves the bar in her vehicle and crashes into James, seriously injuring him. James may have grounds for a dram shop lawsuit against Blue Bar for serving an underage customer.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a drunk driver in Florida, you can learn more about your right to financial compensation by speaking with one of our experienced drunk driving injury victims lawyers.
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