Nashville Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer

Over 20 Years Fighting for Nashville’s Drunk Driving Victims

Drunk driving remains one of the most preventable causes of serious injury on Nashville roads, yet crashes involving impaired drivers continue to harm innocent people throughout Davidson County every year. Tennessee law sets the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit at 0.08% for non-commercial drivers, 0.04% for commercial drivers, and applies zero tolerance for drivers under 21. When someone violates those limits and injures another person, the victim has the right to pursue compensation through Tennessee’s at-fault insurance system, which places responsibility on the impaired driver and their insurer.

Nashville victims generally have one year from the date of the accident to file a personal injury claim under Tennessee’s statute of limitations. That deadline makes prompt legal action essential. At Witherington Injury Law, we represent individuals injured in drunk driving accidents in Nashville and throughout the Davidson County area. Patrick D. Witherington leads our firm with over 20 years of experience in personal injury law, including drunk driving accident claims. We handle cases from the initial investigation through negotiation and, when insurers won’t offer a fair settlement, through trial.

Call Witherington Injury Law today at (615) 697-6503 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with a drunk driving accident attorney in Nashville.

Why Nashville Clients Choose Witherington Injury Law

Familiarity with Davidson County courts and Tennessee’s comparative fault rules can make a material difference in how a drunk driving claim is handled. Patrick D. Witherington has earned the AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™, inclusion in Super Lawyers® for Mid-South Rising Stars™, a Superb Avvo Rating, and recognition in Best Lawyers 2026. The firm is also recognized by America’s Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys and carries a Lead Counsel rating. These peer-reviewed credentials reflect a standard of practice clients can rely on when the stakes are highest.

Our communication approach is direct. Clients work with our team throughout their case and are kept informed at every stage, from the first call through final resolution. We coordinate legal, medical, and insurance issues on the client’s behalf so they can focus on recovery rather than paperwork and phone calls. Our case results and client reviews are publicly available on our website for anyone who wants to see how we’ve handled claims like theirs.

Steps to Take After a Drunk Driving Accident in Nashville

The decisions made immediately after a crash can affect both your health and your legal options. These steps can help protect both:

• Call 911 and request medical attention even when injuries aren’t immediately apparent. Some injuries, including traumatic brain injuries and internal damage, take days to show symptoms.
• Provide a detailed account to law enforcement and obtain the responding officer’s name and badge number for follow-up.
• Request a copy of the official accident report and review it for accuracy, confirming it reflects the driver’s impairment as documented by the Nashville Police Department or Tennessee Highway Patrol.
• Document the scene with photographs covering vehicle positions, road conditions, traffic controls, and any visible injuries.
• Collect contact and insurance information from all parties involved and gather names and contact details from any witnesses.
• Avoid statements that could be interpreted as admitting fault, even informal ones at the scene.
• Contact a drunk driving accident attorney as early as possible so evidence, including surveillance footage and bar receipts, can be preserved before it disappears.

Keeping a personal written record of events, conversations with officials, and how your injuries progress in the days after the crash can also support your account as the case develops. Our team can help you understand what documentation will matter most for your situation.

Nashville Laws & Resources for Drunk Driving Victims

Tennessee imposes serious criminal penalties on impaired drivers, and those penalties escalate with BAC level and repeat offenses. Causing serious bodily injury to another person while driving under the influence is a Class D felony in Tennessee. A criminal DUI charge or conviction can support a victim’s civil personal injury claim, though it doesn’t automatically establish full civil liability. Tennessee also prohibits a driver from consuming or possessing an open container of alcohol while operating a vehicle, and that violation can factor into how fault is documented.

For victims and their families, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) provides emotional support, advocacy, and practical resources throughout Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security publishes DUI enforcement data and maintains public safety initiatives related to impaired driving statewide. Official accident reports from the Nashville Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol are essential documents for both insurance claims and civil litigation, and obtaining them promptly is an important early step.

Liability & Dram Shop Claims in Nashville Drunk Driving Cases

Many drunk driving collisions involve more than just the impaired driver, and identifying every potentially responsible party can make a meaningful difference in the compensation available through a claim. In Tennessee, a bar, restaurant, or other business that serves alcohol may be held accountable under the dram shop statute (Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-10-102) if it sold alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person or a known minor and that consumption directly caused the victim’s injuries. These claims carry a burden of proof of beyond a reasonable doubt, decided by a 12-person jury, which makes thorough evidence-gathering critical from the start.

Liability can also extend to social hosts, employers, or vehicle owners, depending on how the drunk driver obtained the keys and whether they were acting within the scope of employment at the time of the crash. Social host liability in Tennessee is generally narrow and most commonly applies when a minor was furnished alcohol and a special relationship existed between the host and the minor. Employer liability turns on whether the driver was on the job when the collision occurred.

Because Tennessee follows a comparative fault rule, insurance carriers often try to shift some blame to injured victims to reduce what they owe. We evaluate every possible source of responsibility so our clients aren’t limited to the at-fault driver’s insurance policy alone. We gather police reports, crash data, surveillance footage, and witness statements to build a clear liability picture, and when appropriate, we consult accident reconstruction professionals familiar with Davidson County courts. Dram shop claims require especially prompt action because surveillance footage and bar receipts can be lost or destroyed quickly.