What Happens If I Am DUI and I Get into an Accident in Austin, Texas?
If a person gets into an accident while driving under the influence, they will be charged with aggravated DUI and their penalties will be increased significantly. Anyone who gets into an accident while they are drunk should get in touch with a DUI lawyer in Austin Texas. An attorney can help prove that a person’s accident was not really caused because they were drunk, but rather, it was caused because the other driver had been negligent in one way or the other.
If a lawyer is able to prove that the intoxicated individual was not entirely at fault, their charge will most likely be decreased from an aggravated DUI to a simple DUI charge and their penalties will be much lighter as well.
If a person pleads guilty or does not take the appropriate legal steps to fight back against the charges laid against them by the officer, they will most likely be faced with other charges alongside aggravated DUI, such as vehicular assault if any of the individuals involved in the accident were hurt.
What happens if someone is killed during the accident?
If another driver or passenger is killed during the accident then a person will most likely be charged for vehicular homicide alongside their DUI charge. If a person is proven guilty, they will have to pay high fines and serve a specified amount of jail time as well.
However, if lawyer is able to prove that the accident did not occur because a person had a high BAC, but rather, the accident occurred because the other driver had been reckless or some other similar situation had occurred, a person can have their charges reduced and they may not be entirely liable for the death of the individual.
How can I prove that I was not at fault?
When a person gets into an accident while they are drunk they are generally automatically considered to be the source of the accident, due to the fact that driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs often leads to a person being a reckless driver.
A person will need to actively pursue legal action in order to ensure all the blame does not fall on their shoulders. The best way to prove that a person was not at fault during a DUI accident is to gather as much evidence as possible. Anything from pictures of the crash to police reports is a great way to prove how the accident occurred. The strongest evidence a person can provide includes videos of the accident occurring and also eyewitnesses who were there when the accident took place.
Eyewitnesses will generally be required to show up during the court trial, or sometimes, during the initial meetups which will occur between all the involved parties and attorneys. If an eye witness is unable to make it on a specified date a person’s attorney can request the judge to alter the date of the trial in order to accommodate the witnesses’ schedule.
