Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer in Richmond, VA
If a drunk driver hit you or someone you love in the Richmond area, Collier & Collier can pursue full compensation, including punitive damages in cases where the driver’s conduct was especially reckless. Case reviews are free, and you pay nothing unless we recover money for you.
No Recovery,
No Fee
80+ Years Combined
Attorney Experience
4.7 Stars
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Practicing Personal Injury Law
Since 1973
If a Drunk Driver Hurt You or Someone You Love
Getting hit by a car while walking is one of the most dangerous accidents on the road, and it usually leaves the pedestrian with the worst injuries.
If you’re dealing with serious injuries after being hit by an impaired driver in the Richmond area, you have options beyond a typical car accident claim, including the possibility of punitive damages on top of compensation for your losses.
Drunk Driving Crashes Are Rising in Henrico County
Virginia recorded 318 alcohol-related traffic deaths in 2024, an 8.5% increase over the year before, according to Virginia DMV data reported by WTVR.
Richmond itself has actually seen drunk driving crashes, injuries, and fatalities decline, but Henrico County is moving the opposite direction. Drunk driving crashes there are up more than 12%, injuries up more than 25%, and fatalities up more than 30%, with a drunk driving crash occurring roughly every 30 hours in the county. If you were hurt anywhere in the Richmond area, you’re dealing with a real and growing problem, not an isolated incident.
Punitive Damages May Be Available
Most car accident claims only cover your actual losses, like medical bills and lost income, and general damages such as pain and suffering Drunk driving cases are different. Under Virginia law, if a drunk driver’s conduct was willful and wanton, showing a conscious disregard for the safety of others, a jury can award punitive damages on top of your compensatory damages, up to a cap of $350,000.
Evidence like the driver’s blood alcohol content, prior DUI history, and how recklessly they were driving all factor into whether punitive damages apply to your case.
What Virginia Law Doesn’t Let You Do
Unlike some states, Virginia doesn’t have dram shop or social host liability laws. That means you generally can’t sue the bar, restaurant, or party host that served the driver alcohol, even if they kept serving someone who was visibly intoxicated. Your claim is against the driver.
That makes the driver’s own insurance, and your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, especially important, since Virginia doesn’t even require drivers to carry insurance at all. Some drivers instead pay an uninsured motorist fee to the DMV, which means the drunk driver who hit you might not be insured at all.
Who Can Be Held Responsible
The drunk driver is the party you can pursue directly, and Virginia’s contributory negligence rule still applies. Being found even slightly at fault can bar you from recovering anything at all, so it matters to have your case built carefully from the start.
If the driver who hit you didn’t have insurance, or didn’t have enough, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may still provide a path to compensation.
If a drunk driving accident took the life of someone you love, we also handle wrongful death claims under Virginia’s Wrongful Death Act.
Our Drunk Driving Accident Claims Process
We start by pulling the evidence that supports your case: the police report, the driver’s BAC results, and any criminal charges filed, since a DUI conviction can support your civil claim.
From there, we evaluate whether punitive damages apply based on how reckless the driver’s conduct was, and we handle every conversation with the insurance company so you’re not negotiating your own claim while trying to recover.
What Compensation May Include
Compensation may include medical expenses (past and future), lost income while you’re recovering, and pain and suffering for what the injury has cost you physically and emotionally. In cases involving especially reckless conduct, punitive damages may also be available, separate from these categories.
We won’t promise a number here, since every case is different, but these are the categories we build a claim around once we’ve reviewed what happened to you.
No Recovery, No Fee
We handle drunk driving accident claims on a contingency-fee basis: no upfront cost to hire us, no hourly bill while your case is pending, and no fee unless we recover money for you.
What your claim is worth depends on factors like the severity of your injuries, lost income, and long-term medical needs, so we won’t guess at a number here. What we can promise is a straightforward answer once we’ve reviewed your case.
Other Accident Types We Handle
Why Choose Collier & Collier
Our attorneys bring more than 80 years of combined legal experience to drunk driving accident claims, but we’re still a small, family-operated firm, so you’ll talk directly with the attorneys and staff handling your case.
We know how to build a case for punitive damages when the facts support it, and how to make the most of uninsured motorist coverage when the driver who hit you doesn’t have enough insurance of their own.
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Talk to Us Before Time Runs Out
You generally have two years from the date of your accident to file a claim under Virginia Code §8.01-243, but the sooner you talk to us, the sooner we can start protecting your case. Call Collier & Collier at (804) 364-5200 for a free, no-obligation case review.
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