Massachusetts Drunk Driving (OUI) Accident Attorneys Fighting for Justice and Full Compensation
A drunk driver’s choice to get behind the wheel can shatter another family’s life in seconds. Massachusetts sees alcohol-related crashes every year on the Mass Pike, I-93, Storrow Drive, and roads across the Commonwealth, and the victims are left facing hospital bills, missed paychecks, and injuries that may never fully heal, all because someone else chose to drive impaired.
Unlike an ordinary fender bender, a drunk driving crash often comes with a parallel criminal case and a documented blood alcohol reading. Massachusetts also layers its own no-fault insurance system and injury threshold on top of an ordinary negligence claim, which makes knowing exactly how to build your case, and against whom, especially important.
RTRLAW’s Massachusetts car accident attorneys have been providing caring, compassionate legal advice and skilled representation to accident victims since 1988. For more than three decades, we have helped tens of thousands of clients and secured hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for them.
Managing Partner Nicholas R. Thompson and our team have spent more than 21 years holding impaired drivers, and the businesses that sometimes enable them, fully accountable, and we are ready to do the same for you.
What Injuries Can Happen in a Massachusetts Drunk Driving Accident?
Impaired drivers react slower, misjudge distances, and often fail to brake at all before impact, which means drunk driving crashes tend to happen at higher speeds and with less avoidance than an ordinary accident. A driver who never sees the danger coming cannot swerve, slow down, or take any of the split-second actions that might otherwise reduce the severity of a collision. The injuries that follow are frequently severe, including:
- Traumatic brain injuries and skull fractures
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
- Broken bones and crush injuries
- Internal bleeding and organ damage
- Severe burns from post-collision fires
- Facial injuries and disfigurement
- Amputation
- Wrongful death
Many of these injuries require emergency surgery, extended hospital stays, and months or years of rehabilitation. Some victims are left with permanent disabilities that prevent them from returning to their previous job or way of life entirely, which is why a thorough claim accounts for future medical needs and lost earning capacity, not just the bills that have already arrived. Whatever the extent of your injuries, if we choose to take your case, you will not pay anything upfront. RTRLAW works on contingency fees, which means you pay nothing unless we win your case and recover money for you.
Massachusetts’s No-Fault System and the Injury Threshold
Massachusetts requires drivers to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP), and your own PIP coverage typically pays your initial medical bills and a portion of lost wages, regardless of fault. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 231, Section 6D, you can only recover pain and suffering damages from the at-fault driver once your reasonable and necessary medical expenses exceed $2,000, or your injury involves death, loss of a body member, permanent and serious disfigurement, or certain losses of sight or hearing.
Many drunk driving crashes clear this threshold easily given the severity of the injuries involved, but it is a real, statutory gate you have to clear before a pain and suffering claim proceeds. For a broader look at how the Massachusetts no-fault system works, see our guide on Massachusetts auto accident laws and the rules of the road.
In practice, this means the early weeks after a drunk driving crash serve two purposes at once. Treatment addresses your injuries, and the resulting medical records and bills document whether your case has cleared the $2,000 threshold or falls within one of the statutory exceptions. Gaps in treatment, or delaying care, can give an insurer an argument that your expenses do not meet the threshold even when your injuries are genuinely serious, which is one more reason prompt and consistent medical care matters after a crash like this.
What Should You Do After a Drunk Driving Accident in Massachusetts?
Call 911 immediately and request medical assistance for anyone who is hurt. Officers responding to a suspected OUI crash will typically conduct a separate investigation into the other driver’s intoxication, including field sobriety tests and a breath test, which can become powerful evidence in your civil claim later. Make sure the responding officer knows you suspect the other driver was impaired, since that detail should be reflected in the official crash report.
If you are able to, stay at the scene until police arrive, look for anyone who witnessed the crash and get their contact information, and use your phone to photograph and video the vehicles, the roadway, and any visible signs of the other driver’s condition. Seek medical evaluation right away even if you feel fine, since some injuries, including internal bleeding and concussions, do not show symptoms immediately, and prompt treatment also helps document that your medical expenses relate directly to the crash.
Be careful when you speak with any insurance company, including your own. Adjusters may try to get a recorded statement early, while you are still in shock, hoping you will say something that can later be used to minimize your claim. Speaking with an experienced drunk driving accident attorney before giving a statement protects you from that tactic.
How Is Fault Determined in a Massachusetts Drunk Driving Accident?
Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, Section 24, a driver operates under the influence when they operate a vehicle with a blood alcohol percentage of 0.08 or more, or while otherwise under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A documented OUI citation or arrest is some of the strongest evidence of negligence a civil case can have, though the criminal case and your civil claim are separate proceedings with separate standards of proof. You are not required to wait for a conviction, or even for criminal charges to be filed, before pursuing your own claim for compensation.
Comparative negligence can still apply. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 231, Section 85, a claimant whose own negligence is greater than the combined negligence of the defendants cannot recover damages. Put another way, if you are found 51 percent or more at fault, your claim is barred, and if you are found 50 percent or less at fault, your damages are reduced in proportion to your own share of fault. Insurance companies sometimes try to shift blame onto the victim even in a clear-cut drunk driving case, which is one more reason to have an attorney who can push back with real evidence.
Can You Recover Punitive Damages in a Massachusetts Drunk Driving Case?
This is an area where Massachusetts law differs from many other states, and it is important to understand correctly. Massachusetts does not allow punitive damages in an ordinary personal injury case, even one involving a catastrophic injury caused by a drunk driver. Under Massachusetts law, punitive damages are only available where a specific statute authorizes them.
The most relevant authorization for drunk driving cases is Massachusetts’s wrongful death statute. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 229, Section 2, when a death is caused by malicious, willful, wanton, or reckless conduct, or by gross negligence, the surviving family may recover punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages. A fatal drunk driving crash can meet this standard, but a surviving injury victim’s own personal injury claim generally cannot include a punitive damages component under Massachusetts law, regardless of how reckless the drunk driver’s conduct was.
This distinction matters when comparing what you may have read about drunk driving claims in other states. Some states allow punitive or exemplary damages in ordinary injury claims when the at-fault driver’s conduct was reckless enough, but Massachusetts takes a narrower approach. That does not mean a Massachusetts drunk driving claim is worth less. Full compensatory damages, including future medical care, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering once the injury threshold is met, are still fully available and can represent substantial recovery in a serious case. It simply means the additional, separate category of punitive damages is reserved for the wrongful death context under Massachusetts law.
Can You Sue a Bar or Restaurant for Serving the Drunk Driver?
Often, yes. Massachusetts recognizes dram shop liability under common law. In Cimino v. Milford Keg, Inc., 385 Mass. 323 (1982), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that a bar or restaurant can be held liable for serving alcohol to a patron who was visibly intoxicated, when that intoxication later causes injury to a third party.
Proving a dram shop claim typically requires evidence of how the driver behaved while being served, such as staff and witness observations of visible intoxication, receipts or point-of-sale records showing how much alcohol was served, and sometimes surveillance footage from the establishment. This evidence disappears quickly, since records get discarded and staff turnover is common, which is why a prompt investigation matters if a dram shop claim is a realistic possibility in your case.
A dram shop claim can matter even when the at-fault driver carries adequate insurance, since it opens up an entirely separate policy, the establishment’s liquor liability coverage, as an additional source of recovery. Identifying where the driver was drinking beforehand, and how long they were there, is one of the first things worth investigating after a serious drunk driving crash.
What If the Drunk Driver Does Not Have Enough Insurance?
Even a driver with only the state minimum liability coverage can cause damages far exceeding what their policy will pay in a serious drunk driving crash. When that happens, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, if you carry it, can fill the gap. It is also worth investigating whether a dram shop claim, an employer’s commercial policy if the driver was working, or the at-fault driver’s personal assets can provide additional sources of recovery.
A thorough drunk driving case looks at every one of these possibilities rather than stopping at the first insurance policy that responds to the claim.
Is a Lawyer Really Necessary for Your Massachusetts Drunk Driving Case?
No one is legally required to hire an attorney to pursue a car accident claim, but insurance companies do not want you to have one. They know that claimants without legal representation typically settle for less than their claim is actually worth, and they are prepared to use that to their advantage.
A drunk driving case adds another layer most general negligence claims do not have: a parallel criminal case, the Commonwealth’s no-fault injury threshold, and sometimes a separate dram shop claim against a third party. Coordinating all of that while you are trying to recover from serious injuries is not something anyone should have to manage alone. For more on why representation matters in Massachusetts specifically, see our discussion of whether hiring a personal injury attorney in Massachusetts is worth it.
RTRLAW’s attorneys have spent decades negotiating with insurance companies on behalf of drunk driving victims, and we know how these claims are valued, delayed, and disputed. We use the power of the law to compel evidence, including the at-fault driver’s BAC results and criminal case records, and to make sure nothing is hidden from you during the process.
RTRLAW Can Help With Your Massachusetts Drunk Driving Accident Case
You should not have to spend the aftermath of a drunk driving crash fighting alone to rebuild your life. At RTRLAW, we fight to hold impaired drivers, and anyone else who contributed to the crash, fully accountable, across our Massachusetts personal injury practice.
We offer immediate consultations by phone, video, or in person. If you cannot come to us, our attorneys and investigators can come to you, even if you are still in the hospital. Paperwork can be handled electronically by email or text, so you can focus on your recovery rather than logistics.
If you or a loved one was hurt by a drunk driver in Massachusetts, don’t wait. Contact RTRLAW by calling (617) 648-8133 today 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for a free, no obligation case review. We handle drunk driving accident claims on a No Win, No Fee basis, true to our commitment to Retain The Flame for every client we represent.
