Jackson, MS Drunk Driving Motorcycle Accidents

Not only is drunk driving illegal, but it is also extremely dangerous. Many drunk driving accidents involving just standard passenger vehicles are fatal. Can you imagine how much more likely a drunk driving collision will result in a fatality when the crash involves a motorcyclist? As previously stated, unlike standard passenger vehicles, motorcycles do not protect their drivers with a metal frame and an abundance of safety features, so when a drunk driver hits a motorcyclist, he or she is going to receive most – if not all – of the impact directly.

To give you an example, we will say that you are riding your motorcycle in Hinds County on Interstate 20 – not too far from Jim Hill High School, which is located at 2185 Coach Fred Harris Street, Jackson, MS 39204. A drunk driver in an adjacent lane fails to maintain his lane, thus veering into your lane. His vehicle slightly bumps into your motorcycle before he is able to steer himself back into his lane. That slight bump to your motorcycle was enough to cause your motorcycle to fall over, resulting in you hitting the pavement in excess of 50 miles per hour.

After such an accident, you will likely have high medical bills and lost wages, among other losses. Mississippi law places the burden of proof on the plaintiff seeking compensation, so you will have to establish the negligence of the other driver in order to recover economic and non-economic damages. This can be done by proving that your injuries were caused due to the other driver breaching a duty of reasonable care that was owed to you by him or her. A car accident attorney in the Jackson, Mississippi, area can help you prove your claim and assert your rights to the fullest extent.

In Mississippi, it is against the law for someone 21 years old or older to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher. Thus, the drunk driver will likely be arrested by the Jackson Police Department at the scene and prosecuted by the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office. While the defendant’s criminal case is legally separate from your civil cause of action against him or her, information from that case could be beneficial towards proving liability in your civil case for damages.