Florida Drunk Driving Accident: Damage to Property

A Florida drunk driving accident that leads to damage to property is of a first degree misdemeanor and the driver may face serious fines and additional charges. Those charges can include the initial drunk driving charge as well as the precedent cause of the accident itself. (Causes could include excessive speed, failure to yield, etc.) If the damaged property was very valuable, additional charges could be brought; in other cases, the owner of the damaged property is well within his or her legal right to bring a suit that covers the cost of repair or replacement of the property in question.

In addition to being penalized for involvement with a Florida drunk driving accident, the driver may face additional charges if there is a minor child involved in any way or if there is bodily harm done to another person. If the driver of the vehicle involved in the Florida drunk driving accident leaves or attempts to leave the scene of an accident before the police arrive, it is likely that he or she will be charged with a hit/skip accident in addition to drunk driving. If he or she tries to leave after the police are near or at the scene, the charge could likely be changed to attempting to elude. These are very serious charges and may take a simple misdemeanor to felony level in a matter of moments.

If you are involved in a Florida drunk driving accident yourself, assess the damage to the property. Make sure that no one is injured, including yourself. Phone for the police or have someone else do it. Take down all information for the insurance company and consider having an attorney meet you at the jail if you think you are going to be arrested. When the police arrive, be courteous, obey their directions, comply with requests and do not fight if you are, in fact, being arrested. You do not want to add resisting arrest to the other charges you are already facing.

Once you are arrested after a Florida drunk driving accident, you may be evaluated for injury, however if you are not, you will be held for at least eight hours or until your blood alcohol level is below .05.