West Chester Drunk Driver Accident Attorney

Drunk-driving accidents in West Chester, Pennsylvania, can have devastating consequences for victims, often leading to significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges. These accidents can result in both criminal charges and civil legal action.

While the criminal justice system aims to hold the drunk driver accountable for their actions, a civil lawsuit provides victims with the opportunity to seek compensation for injuries, medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages.

If you’ve been injured by a drunk driver in West Chester, our experienced West Chester drunk driver accident lawyers can help secure the financial support necessary to help you recover. Call (855) 946-3678 now or fill out our online form to schedule a free initial consultation with our legal team to learn more about how we can assist.

How Our Drunk Driver Accident Lawyers in West Chester Can Help You

Being injured by a drunk driver can upend your life in ways you may not have anticipated. At Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, we understand the strain you’re under. Our goal is to manage the legal process for you so you can focus on what matters most—your recovery. Here’s how we can assist you:

Investigate the Accident and Secure Critical Evidence

From day one, we begin collecting all essential evidence to build a strong case. This includes obtaining the police report, reviewing BAC results, and gathering any available video footage. If witnesses were present, we’ll reach out to them for their statements while the details are still fresh.

Handle Insurance and Legal Deadlines

You shouldn’t have to deal with endless calls from insurance adjusters. Our team takes care of all communication with insurers and ensures all necessary filings are made on time.

Identify All Potential Sources of Compensation

Our approach goes beyond just the drunk driver. We thoroughly investigate whether other parties—such as a bar or restaurant—could be held responsible. Additionally, we examine your own insurance coverage to ensure you receive the full compensation you’re entitled to.

Coordinate with the Criminal Case

If the other driver is facing DUI charges, we’ll use that process to help support your case and explain how criminal restitution or impact statements may come into play.

At Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, our award-winning drunk driver accident attorneys in West Chester, PA, are here to fight for you with care and dedication. Let us handle the legal side, so you can focus on getting your life back on track.

What Are My Legal Options After a Drunk Driver Accident Injury?

After a drunk driving accident, you may be dealing with physical pain, financial stress, and uncertainty about what comes next. Pennsylvania law gives you a few paths to hold the right parties responsible and recover what you’ve lost:

Filing a Personal Injury Claim

If you were hurt, you can file a personal injury claim against the drunk driver. This includes compensation for hospital bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. In many drunk driving cases, Pennsylvania law also allows punitive damages. These go beyond basic compensation and are meant to punish the driver for reckless behavior.

Holding Bars or Restaurants Accountable

You may also have a case against the bar, restaurant, or social host that overserved the driver. If they gave alcohol to someone who was already clearly intoxicated or underage, they could be held partly responsible for what happened.

Pursuing a Wrongful Death Case

If someone you love passed away in a drunk driving crash, your family may have grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit. This type of claim can help cover funeral costs and provide compensation for the emotional and financial impact of the loss.

Will My Auto Insurance Cover Damages Caused By a Drunk Driver?

In Pennsylvania, if you’re hit by a drunk driver, their auto insurance is still required to cover your injuries and property damage. Even though driving under the influence is illegal, insurance companies can’t deny coverage just because alcohol was involved. State law doesn’t allow insurers to use intoxication as a reason to avoid paying claims.

That means if you’re hurt in a crash caused by a drunk driver, you can still pursue compensation through their liability insurance. If the other driver doesn’t have enough coverage—or no coverage at all—you may be able to use your own uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits. These types of claims can get complicated, especially if the insurance company tries to delay or minimize what you’re owed.

Our experienced West Chester drunk driver accident lawyers will step in, review all available coverage, and make sure you’re not left paying out of pocket for someone else’s reckless choices. Whether it’s negotiating with the drunk driver’s insurer or working with your own, we’ll push to make sure every option is fully explored and your costs are covered.

Pennsylvania Dram Shop Liability

As we mentioned, you may have a legal claim not only against the drunk driver but also against the business that served them. Under Pennsylvania dram shop laws, a bar, restaurant, or similar establishment can be held liable if they continued to serve alcohol to someone who was visibly intoxicated, and that person later caused a crash. These laws exist to discourage reckless alcohol service and give victims another path to seek compensation.

To bring a successful dram shop claim, we need clear proof that the business acted irresponsibly. That often involves gathering:

• Witness statements showing the driver appeared drunk while being served.
• Video footage from inside the establishment.
• Credit card receipts or tabs showing how much was consumed.
• Testimony from staff members who may have noticed warning signs.

Establishments have a duty to cut someone off if they’re clearly impaired. If they ignore that and a crash follows, they can be held accountable alongside the driver. These cases are fact-specific and require early investigation. We know what to look for and how to build the strongest case possible, whether that means negotiating a settlement or going to court to fight for what you’re owed.

How Often Do Drunk Driver Accidents Occur in West Chester?

Drunk driving remains a serious issue across Pennsylvania, and West Chester is no exception. While recent numbers show some progress, the problem hasn’t gone away. Accidents involving alcohol continue to cause major injuries and take lives every year.

Statewide Numbers Show the Risk

In 2023, there were 8,337 alcohol-related crashes in Pennsylvania. That’s a slight drop from 8,683 in 2022. Fatalities also went down a bit—308 people lost their lives in drunk driving accidents in 2023, compared to 320 the year before. Over the past five years, these fatality numbers have stayed relatively steady—299 deaths in 2019, 293 in 2020, 311 in 2021, 320 in 2022, and 308 in 2023.

About 25% of all traffic deaths in the state last year involved alcohol. Most of these crashes happened at night, often on weekends.

Who Is Most Affected?

Young adults are heavily involved in these accidents. The 21–25 age group had the highest crash rate with drunk drivers. Meanwhile, drivers aged 41–45 had the highest fatality rate when alcohol was involved—40% of fatalities in that group were the drunk drivers themselves.

Men were involved in the vast majority of these cases—73 percent of drinking drivers in crashes were male. On average, Pennsylvania sees 23 drunk driving crashes every single day. Fourteen people are injured daily in those crashes, and almost one person is killed. These aren’t just numbers—they reflect the everyday reality for victims and families across communities like West Chester.

A drunk driving crash might happen just a few blocks from where you live or work. Maybe you’re heading home from your job at the Chester County History Center when someone driving the wrong way on N High Street hits you head-on.

Or maybe after browsing at Electric Avenue Music, you’re sideswiped on N Adams Street by a driver so intoxicated they drift into your lane. These situations are real, and they’re happening right here in town.

Establishing Liability After a Drunk Driver Causes an Accident

After a crash caused by a drunk driver, one of the first steps is figuring out who’s legally responsible—and how to prove it. You need clear, documented proof that their intoxication directly led to the accident and your injuries. In Pennsylvania, this often starts with the police report, blood alcohol content (BAC) results, and witness accounts that confirm the driver’s condition and behavior before the collision.

It’s also important to connect the crash to the harm you’ve suffered—medical bills, time away from work, physical pain, and long-term impact on your life. In more serious cases, an expert may be needed to reconstruct the accident or explain how your injuries were caused. As stated, If the driver had been drinking at a business, there may be a dram shop claim as well.

Liability isn’t automatic, even when a drunk driver is involved. The legal process requires strong evidence and a deliberate approach. As experienced West Chester drunk driver accident lawyers, we do the work to uncover what really happened and make sure the responsible parties are held fully accountable.

Is the Drunk Driver Always at Fault?

Pennsylvania law doesn’t automatically assign fault based on intoxication alone. A DUI charge is serious, but civil liability depends on who actually caused the crash—not just who had been drinking.

Drunk Driving Doesn’t Guarantee Fault

Even if one driver was legally intoxicated, that doesn’t mean they’re automatically responsible for the accident. Pennsylvania law focuses on negligence—who acted carelessly and caused the collision. If the sober driver ran a red light, made an illegal turn, or rear-ended someone, they could still be found at fault despite the other driver being drunk.

Can More Than One Party Be Liable?

Yes. In some cases, fault can be shared. Pennsylvania follows a modified comparative negligence rule laid out in Pennsylvania § 7102. If you’re partially at fault, you can still recover damages—so long as you’re not more than 50% responsible.

Your compensation gets reduced by your percentage of fault. So, if you’re 30% at fault, you’d only get 70% of the damages awarded.

What Happens in Multi-Car Crashes?

In a pile-up or chain-reaction accident, liability is often divided among multiple drivers. Investigators will look at each driver’s actions to see who triggered the sequence. Even if one driver was drunk, others may still share blame depending on how the crash unfolded. Fault is assigned based on each person’s contribution to the incident.

Fighting To Get You Maximum Financial Compensation

Drunk driving accidents often cause serious, life-altering injuries. At Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, we are committed to pursuing the full amount of compensation available under Pennsylvania law. We don’t settle quickly or accept low offers.

We build each case thoroughly, with the goal of securing the maximum possible recovery for our clients. Insurance companies know we’re willing to go to trial if necessary—and they respond accordingly.

You may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, including hospital bills, follow-up care, and long-term rehabilitation. We also seek damages for lost wages, reduced future earning capacity, and the impact the injury has had on your daily life. In many cases, pain and suffering compensation is significant.

Also, if the drunk driver’s conduct was especially reckless, we may also pursue punitive damages, which are meant to punish and deter similar behavior.

If you’re unsure whether you have a case, we can review the facts and explain your legal options. From start to finish, you will work directly with an attorney—not a case manager or assistant. Our firm treats each case with urgency and attention because we know how much is at stake.

Time Limit To File a Car Accident Claim in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania law gives you two years from the date of a car accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. That deadline is part of the state’s statute of limitations, and missing it usually means you lose the right to seek compensation. This rule applies to injuries from most motor vehicle collisions, whether it involves another driver’s negligence, a defect in the road, or a dangerous vehicle part.

In some situations, the clock may start later under what’s called the discovery rule—for example, if the injury wasn’t immediately clear. The time limit can also be delayed if the injured person is under 18 or if the person responsible leaves the state for a time. Even with these exceptions, courts enforce the deadline strictly.

That’s why it’s important to consult a skilful lawyer soon after the accident. Acting quickly helps preserve your right to pursue damages like medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering.

Consult With Our DUI Accident Injury Lawyers Today

At Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, we know how devastating a DUI crash can be. That’s why we fight hard for people who’ve been injured by drunk or impaired drivers. We take the time to understand your case, explain your options clearly, and work toward a result that helps you move forward.

Every case matters to us, and we’re ready to put our experience to work for you. Contact us today for a free consultation, if you’ve been hurt in a DUI accident anywhere in Pennsylvania. We’re here to help you move forward.