DRunk driving accidents

Car crashes caused by alcohol intoxication can lead to more than just an Operating While Intoxicated offense. Civil lawsuits for personal injury, wrongful death, or property damages are also possible if the crash hurts someone or damages property. The drunk driver can certainly be liable, and if the driver was drinking at a bar at some point before the crash the bar could be liable too for contributing to the driver’s intoxication.

Bar owner liability for alcohol-related car accidents is set by Iowa’s “dram shop” statute, Iowa Code 123.92. That statute extends liability for alcohol-related car crashes (and other types of injuries) to bar owners who serve alcohol to the person who causes the crash. Liability can be imposed if the bar serves someone when the bar’s employees knew or should have known that the customer would become intoxicated or was already intoxicated. A person is considered intoxicated if the person’s reason or mental ability has been affected, the person’s judgment is impaired, the person’s emotions are visibly excited, or the person has, to any extent, lost control of bodily actions.

Arguments often occur in dram shop cases over whether a particular establishment was responsible for the intoxication when the person visited multiple places the same day or night. Iowa law holds that the alcohol served by a particular bar does not have to be the sole cause of the intoxication. It is enough if it was a contributing cause of the intoxication. That opens the possibility for more than one place to be liable in a dram shop action if several contributed to the intoxication.

Iowa law provides strong remedies if you or a loved one is injured in an accident caused by a drunk driver. You may be able to recover money damages for, among other things, past and future medical expenses, past and future physical and mental pain and suffering, and past and future disability or loss of function of the body. If the accident caused a death, an additional series of money damages for wrongful death may also be applicable.  We invite you to take a moment to browse additional information about money damages that we've provided on our Personal Injury And Wrongful Death page.

Dram shop cases have tricky statutory requirements and deadlines for preserving your legal rights if you’re contemplating an action against a bar for an alcohol-related injury. Also, there are several nuances in the dram shop law that require careful legal analysis and attention. These are not claims that you’d want to attempt without an attorney.

Our firm has tried numerous car accident and personal injury claims. If you have questions about a drunk driving accident, please take a moment to learn about your rights by reviewing the information provided on this site. If, after reviewing this information, you'd like to speak with us about your drunk driving accident, please reach out to us through the Web Contact Form by using the "Contact Us" button or by calling (515) 281-1460. We make every effort to provide a same-day response to all communications received during weekday business hours. It'll be our pleasure to meet with you, learn more about your situation, and lend you a helping hand.

Erbe Law Firm 
2501 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50312
(515) 229-0202

Erbe Law Firm has proudly served clients throughout Iowa since 2005 from our Des Moines law firm. We look forward to hearing from you to see whether we can do the same for you.