Colorado DUI Accident Lawyers

Colorado follows the doctrine of negligence per se. When a person violates a safety statute meant to prevent the kind of harm that happened, to a person the statute was meant to protect, the violation itself can establish negligence. Drunk and drugged driving laws exist precisely to keep impaired drivers from injuring others, so an impaired driver who causes a crash fits that doctrine squarely.

In plain English, you usually do not have to argue about whether the drunk driver did something wrong. The fact of impairment, once established, does most of that work. The real fight is almost always over the value of your harm and which insurance policies have to pay it, not over who caused the crash.

• Restitution is ordered by the criminal court as part of the driver's sentence. It is generally limited to specific, documented out-of-pocket losses, such as proven medical bills and lost wages tied directly to the crime.
• Restitution generally does not pay for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, or future losses the way a civil claim can. It is paid by the driver personally, which often means slow, partial collection if the driver has limited means.
• Civil damages are far broader. They reach the full range of harm and are paid by insurance, which has the funds restitution rarely does. Accepting restitution does not cancel your right to pursue a civil claim, though amounts you actually receive can be accounted for so you are not paid twice for the same loss.

We coordinate with the prosecutor handling the criminal case so the restitution request is documented well, and we build the civil claim that actually pursues your complete recovery. Treating restitution as the finish line is one of the most expensive mistakes a victim can make.

Many DUI injury cases settle once liability is documented and the medical picture is clear. Cases with severe injuries, a fatality, or multiple insurers can take a year or more. We tell you where your case stands at every stage, and you never pay a fee unless we recover for you.

Punitive damages for drunk driving conduct, and how the caps work

• Drunk driving is the kind of willful and wanton conduct that can support punitive, or exemplary, damages on top of your compensatory recovery. Punitive damages in Colorado generally cannot exceed the amount of actual damages awarded (C.R.S. 13-21-102), and they require proof of willful and wanton conduct.
• For compensatory non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, Colorado applies a cap of $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025, with inflation adjustments starting in 2028 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5). Lower, inflation-adjusted caps apply to older claims based on when the claim accrued.
• Economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages are never capped, and compensation for physical impairment or disfigurement is not subject to the non-economic cap either. Those uncapped categories usually make up the bulk of a serious DUI injury recovery.

We structure the claim so that no category of harm you suffered is left on the table, and we explain honestly how each cap and source of recovery applies to your specific losses.

• The claim against the at-fault driver: Colorado gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit for injuries arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)).
• A dram shop claim against the bar or restaurant: a much shorter clock. The lawsuit must be commenced within one year after the alcohol was sold or served (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II)).
• A UM or UIM claim under your own policy: governed by its own deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-107.5, the statute the Colorado Supreme Court applied in Pham v. State Farm, 2013 CO 17. Do not assume it matches the deadline against the driver.

Because the deadlines run from different events, the only safe approach is to have a lawyer confirm every clock that applies to your specific crash as early as possible. When the victim is a child, Colorado law generally tolls the filing deadline, but evidence still does not wait, so early involvement matters.