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When someone gets hit by a drunk driver, their first assumption is usually that the criminal case handles everything. It doesn’t. The civil claim, the one that actually gets an injured person compensated, requires its own proof. A Savannah, GA DUI accident lawyer builds that case separately, using evidence that goes well beyond what law enforcement collects at the scene.
The criminal standard is “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Civil cases use a lower bar: a preponderance of the evidence, meaning it’s more likely than not that the driver was impaired. That distinction matters. A driver can be acquitted in criminal court and still be found liable in a civil case. The O.J. Simpson cases are the most famous example of this, but it happens in DUI cases, too.
So what does an attorney actually use to prove it?
This is the starting point. If law enforcement arrested the driver at the scene, that arrest record and the accompanying report become central pieces of evidence. Officers document field sobriety test results, observed behavior, physical signs of intoxication like slurred speech or the smell of alcohol, and the circumstances that led to the stop. All of that goes into the civil file.
A DUI conviction in criminal court makes the civil case considerably stronger. Under Georgia law, a criminal conviction can be used as evidence in a related civil proceeding. But again, a conviction isn’t required. The civil case can move forward regardless of what happens in criminal court.
Breathalyzer and blood test results are some of the most direct evidence available. Georgia’s legal limit is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent for most drivers and lower for commercial drivers and anyone under 21. A result above that threshold, documented at or near the time of the crash, carries real weight.
But chemical tests aren’t always available or reliable. Drivers sometimes refuse testing. Results can be challenged on procedural grounds. An attorney working a DUI accident case doesn’t rely solely on BAC numbers when other evidence exists to support impairment.
You can review Georgia’s DUI statutes through the Georgia General Assembly’s official code.
People who saw the driver before, during, or after the crash can provide testimony that’s difficult to dismiss. A bartender who served the driver, a passenger in another vehicle who observed erratic driving, or a bystander who watched the driver after the crash can all contribute to a picture of impairment. These accounts are especially valuable when chemical test results are unavailable or disputed.
Video evidence of the driver’s behavior before impact, swerving, running lights, driving the wrong direction, or accelerating erratically, supports an impairment argument independent of any chemical test. Businesses near the scene, traffic cameras, and other drivers’ dashcams are all worth investigating quickly. Footage gets overwritten fast.
What the driver said at the scene, to officers, witnesses, or even on social media afterward, can become evidence. Admissions of drinking, apologetic statements, or posts made shortly before or after the crash have all appeared in civil DUI cases. An attorney looks for all of it.
Georgia’s dram shop law allows certain claims against bars, restaurants, or other establishments that served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person who then caused an accident. This doesn’t apply in every situation, but when it does, it opens an additional avenue for compensation beyond what the driver alone can provide.
The evidence that supports a dram shop claim includes:
None of this evidence collects itself. An attorney moves quickly after a DUI accident because the window for preserving certain records, bar receipts, surveillance footage, and witness recollections, is narrow. The criminal case may be moving on its own timeline, but the civil investigation runs parallel and serves a different purpose entirely.
Ben Clary has spent nearly a decade fighting for people who’ve been seriously hurt because someone else made a reckless choice. He was born and raised in Savannah and approaches every case with the same methodical preparation he brings to distance running: long-term focus, no shortcuts, and a genuine investment in the outcome. At Chattahoochee Injury Law, we represent injured victims across Georgia. If a drunk driver hurt you or someone in your family, contact our office to speak with a Savannah, GA DUI accident lawyer who understands how to build these cases from the ground up.
