Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer in Braintree, MA

What to Do After a Drunk Driving Accident on the South Shore

The steps you take in the hours and days after a crash can affect a civil claim. Acting early preserves evidence and helps protect your right to recover.

• Call 911 immediately: A police report documenting the crash and the driver’s impairment is important evidence in the civil case
• Get medical attention: Injuries like traumatic brain injuries or internal damage may not be immediately apparent; a gap in care can be used against your claim later
• Document the scene: Photograph vehicle damage, visible injuries, and vehicle positions before anything is moved
• Collect information: Get the other driver’s name, license number, and insurance details, and take contact information from any witnesses
• Don’t give a recorded statement: Don’t speak with the other driver’s insurance company before consulting an attorney
• Contact an attorney quickly: In dram shop cases, surveillance footage and point-of-sale records from bars and restaurants can be overwritten within days if preservation steps aren’t taken

Dram shop claims also carry a procedural requirement that doesn’t apply to standard personal injury cases. Under M.G.L. Ch. 231, Section 60J, a plaintiff must file an affidavit within 90 days of the complaint confirming that the claim against the establishment is legitimate. Missing this step can jeopardize the dram shop portion of your case entirely.

Damages You May Be Able to Pursue

Victims of drunk driving accidents may be entitled to seek a range of economic and non-economic damages depending on the facts of their case.

Economic Damages
These cover quantifiable financial losses, including past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity if injuries affect your ability to work long term.

Non-Economic Damages
Pain and suffering, scarring and disfigurement, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life fall into this category. These losses are real even when they don’t appear on a bill.

Wrongful Death Damages
Families who lose someone to a drunk driver may be able to seek funeral and burial costs, loss of companionship, and loss of the financial support the deceased provided. Massachusetts law may also allow punitive damages in wrongful death cases involving drunk driving, a remedy that isn’t available in standard negligence claims.

If the drunk driver’s auto insurance is insufficient to cover serious injuries, your own underinsured motorist coverage may provide an additional source of recovery. When a licensed establishment shares liability, its required liquor liability insurance, with Massachusetts minimums of $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident, may represent a separate pool of coverage available to you.

How Massachusetts Dram Shop Law Works

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 138, Section 69 prohibits any licensed establishment from selling or delivering alcohol to a person who is already intoxicated. When a bar or restaurant violates that law and the patron goes on to injure someone, the establishment can face civil liability alongside the driver.

What Must Be Proven Against the Establishment

A dram shop claim requires showing that the server knew or should have known the patron was visibly intoxicated at the time of continued service. Courts focus on visible signs of intoxication at the point of service, not simply that the driver’s blood alcohol content was high at the time of the crash. Relevant evidence includes surveillance video, point-of-sale receipts showing the number and timing of drinks purchased, witness statements, and bartender training records.

Why Early Action on Evidence Matters

This evidence is perishable. Surveillance systems overwrite footage on rolling cycles, sometimes within 24 to 72 hours. When an establishment may share responsibility, prompt legal action to preserve records isn’t optional. It helps keep that part of the claim alive.

Our attorneys bring dram shop investigation experience from our liquor liability practice directly to drunk driving accident cases. We know what records to request, how to preserve them, and how to use them to build the case against an overserving establishment. None of that has to be figured out on your case from scratch.