Man Gets Shot, Tries to Drive Himself to the Hospital
As this personal injury blog has shown as of late, there are a myriad of different ways to drive negligently. Some methods of negligent driving, like driving under the influence and distracted driving, are fairly common while some are extremely rare. Falling into the “extremely rare” category would be driving while intoxicated after being shot in a drive-by shooting. This is exactly the scenario that played out in Syracuse, New York on Monday after a man was shot in a drive-by shooting while standing on a street corner. The man, apparently intoxicated at the time of the shooting, attempted to get in a car and drive himself to the hospital. Unfortunately, his condition caused him to drive on the wrong side of the road and he collided with another vehicle. He was charged with DWI. One of the potential criminal law issues involved in this case is discussed here.
Perhaps most notable about the story is how extremely lucky the man was that day. It is not every day one can manage to get randomly shot, be involved in a head-on collision, and be charged with DWI. Most notable from a personal injury standpoint, however, is that the man committed three different forms of negligent (and potentially reckless) driving that could potentially subject him to liability for the collision. The most obvious forms would probably be a toss-up between DWI and driving on the wrong side of the street. DWI has been discussed at length in our personal injury blog, and such conduct is automatically considered negligent in Tennessee and has the potential to be considered reckless and warrant the imposition of punitive damages. Victims of DWI-related accidents in Tennessee may thus be able to recover a substantial amount from the party or parties at fault, far in excess of the actual medical expenses. Driving on the wrong side of the street is also negligent, as reasonable drivers are generally aware of the correct side of the street on which to drive and do not continue to drive down a street where dozens of other cars are coming at them head-on. However, such driving does occur and has a tendency to result in the offending party being held liable for the expenses and damages caused by that decision.
The third type of negligent driving described in the story above is driving while shot or injured. While one would not automatically consider such conduct to be negligent, it actually can constitute negligence if the injury is so severe or painful that it affects the driver’s ability to operate the automobile. Simply put, it is not reasonable to drive when one is not in a suitable condition to do so. The more appropriate choice in this situation obviously would have been to call for an ambulance if possible. A victim in this situation could potentially recover for any injuries caused by any of the three forms of negligence mentioned in this story, with the first two probably being the easiest roads to recovery.
Source: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/man_shot_crashes_while_driving.html
