Drunk Driving Settlements

In 2003, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, announced that the NUMBER ONE unintentional cause of death among individuals ages 1-64 was Motor Vehicle Traffic Accidents. According to the National Traffic Safety Administration and The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006: Minnesota had 493 deaths from automobile crashes and 31% of those involved a driver who was legally intoxicated or drunk.

In Minnesota a driver is legally intoxicated or drunk when:

• The person is 21 or older and driving a non-commercial vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08% or higher,
  
• The person is 21 or older and driving a commercial vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .04% or higher.
  
• The person is under 21 and there is physical evidence of consumption present in the person’s body.
  
• Minnesota Statutes Chapter 169A.
  

Minnesota allows a Judge or Jury to consider punitive damages, or in other words, to punish the impaired driver if there is evidence that the accident was caused by a driver:

• With an alcohol content of .08% or higher;
  
• Who was under the influence of a controlled substance; or
  
• Who was under the influence of alcohol and refused to take a chemical test for intoxication.
  
• Minnesota Statute 169A.76 (a) (1), (2), (3).