Driver hit by overserved customer awarded $1.05M

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A woman who suffered injuries in a car crash involving an overserved driver has been awarded a $1 million settlement.  

The plaintiff sustained a fractured ankle and optical nerve damage when she was hit by a drunk driver in Murrells Inlet, S.C.

According to the plaintiff attorney, David Lail, at the time of the wreck, the plaintiff was driving home from her job as a waitress, when the defendant failed to yield the right of way while making a left turn and collided into the driver side of the plaintiff’s vehicle.  

Because the defendant was also injured in the crash, no field sobriety tests were administered. The defendant refused a breathalyzer, invoked his right to remain silent, and no BAC was ever obtained by law enforcement, Lail reported.  

In addition to the lack of any BAC evidence and defendant invoking the Fifth Amendment in the litigation, a witness at the scene reported to police that the plaintiff was the one who ran a red light and was at fault for the crash, not the defendant. According to Lail, this witness was a friend of the defendant and therefore his account was biased.

Investigation and interviews with other witnesses revealed that the defendant had been drinking alcohol at a local restaurant prior to the accident. After suit was filed against the defendant, a subpoena to the restaurant returned a receipt that contained 13 alcoholic drinks, paid in cash, and closed out at 7:45 p.m., meeting the requirements for overserving a customer in violation of the state’s dram shop laws. 

The settlement represented the policy limits of all available insurance coverage. The plaintiff settled for a total of $1,050,000. $1 million from the restaurant that overserved the driver, and $50,000.00 from the at-fault driver policy.

Type of Action: Dram shop case against a restaurant and drunk driver 

Injuries Alleged: Ankle fracture and optical nerve damage 

Name of Case: Confidential 

Court: Confidential 

Case no.: Confidential 

Tried Before: Case was settled before trial 

Judge: Confidential 

Settlement Amount: Total of $1,050,000: $1,000,000 – dram shop policy limit; $50,000.00 – at-fault driver policy limits 

Date of Verdict or Settlement: October 2022 

Demand: Confidential 

Highest offer: Confidential 

Most Helpful experts: Confidential 

Insurance Carriers: Withheld 

Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff: David Lail, David Yarborough; John Dodds of Yarborough Applegate LLC in Charleston; David Baker and Ryan Compton of Baker Compton Law Firm, LLC in Murrells Inlet; John Hilliard of Hilliard Law Firm LLC in Georgetown 

Attorney(s) for the Defendants: Withheld  

Were liability and/or damages contested? Yes 

Was the opposing party represented by legal counsel? Yes 

Has the plaintiff been successful in collecting the judgment? Yes