Question: How do I recover my losses after being hit by a drunk driver? My car was hit by a drunk driver traveling down the freeway in the wrong direction without her lights on at 11:30 at night. The driver’s insurance company rated my 15 month old car as a total loss. However, the settlement they are offering is about $1500 short to pay my leasing company. In addition, the opportunity to lease the same car at the previous payment is no longer available, so my payments will be going up about $75.00/month. How can I recover the balance of the money owed and make up the difference in my least costs (at least for the 21 months remaining on my original lease)? This has certainly made my life miserable. Thankfully, no one in my car was seriously injured!

Answer: This is a complicated answer and without more information the question can’t be answered. First of all what losses do you want to recover?

ü  Personal injury?

ü  Punitive damages?

ü  Property damage?

ü  Car rental? Towing?

ü  Storage charges?

ü  Past, present and future medical expense?

What are your damages? You mention only car damage.

As for the leasing arrangement and property damage I have no clue on how to answer this without reviewing the lease and the damage reports. Simply put this is a matter for a lawyer to review and to advise you. The matter can’t be settled online. 

I cover a lot of these wrong-way driver cases on the interstate highways all across the country. So do a search here and on the Verdict and you'll find drunk drivers are the most prevalent of all causes of wrong-way events.