New Jersey Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer

If you suffered an injury due to a drunk driver in New Jersey, you can pursue compensation through a civil claim, and often from more than one source: the driver, their insurer, and the bar, restaurant, or social host that over-served them.

That last avenue is one many people miss, because they assume a drunk driving case is open and shut, that the driver was impaired, caused the crash, and their insurance simply pays. That assumption regularly costs victims real money.

New Jersey law gives injured people tools that most other states do not offer. Whether those tools apply to your case depends on facts that need to be gathered quickly, before evidence disappears and witnesses become unreachable.

The Reinartz Law Firm represents people injured by drunk drivers throughout New Jersey, with a primary focus in Hackensack and the surrounding Bergen and Hudson County areas. Richard Reinartz spent over a decade representing both plaintiffs and major insurance companies in high-stakes litigation before founding the firm. That background means we understand exactly how insurers build their defense before you have anyone building yours.

Call (201) 289-8614 for a free case evaluation.

New Jersey's Drunk Driving Laws and What They Mean for Your Civil Case

A drunk driver's criminal case and your civil claim move forward separately, and you do not need a conviction to recover. New Jersey prosecutes impaired drivers under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50, which sets the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit at 0.08% for standard drivers and 0.04% for commercial operators. Those criminal penalties run parallel to your right to file a civil claim for your injuries.

For a first offense between 0.08% and 0.09%, the state suspends your license only until you install an ignition interlock device for three months. A BAC of 0.10% to 0.14% extends the interlock requirement to twelve months.

In contrast, a BAC of 0.15% or higher triggers a mandatory four-to-six-month license suspension before restoration.

Does New Jersey's Dram Shop Law Apply to Your Case?

New Jersey’s Dram Shop Act (N.J.S.A. 2A:22A-1 through 2A:22A-7) allows victims to hold licensed vendors liable if they serve a visibly intoxicated customer. This statute applies to commercial businesses such as bars and restaurants, including the establishments along Main Street and Route 17 in Hackensack.

In contrast, private individuals face liability under the Social Host Liability Act (N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.6). This law applies when a host knowingly provides alcohol to a visibly intoxicated adult guest who subsequently causes an automobile crash.

What Drunk Driving Crashes Actually Do to the People in Their Path

Impaired drivers frequently fail to brake before impact. Collisions occur at or near full speed. That produces a different injury profile than low-speed crashes, and the medical consequences reflect it.

Traumatic brain injuries, spinal fractures, internal organ damage, and compound fractures are common outcomes. So are psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and sleep disruption, that persist long after broken bones heal.

We have recovered confidential motor vehicle settlements exceeding $900,000 and $950,000, and a $7,000,000 confidential motor vehicle accident settlement, in cases where the injuries justified pursuing full damages. Results may vary. Prior case outcomes do not guarantee similar results.

New Jersey operates under a modified comparative fault framework under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1 through 5.3. As long as you are not more than 50% responsible for the accident, you retain the right to recover damages.

A drunk driver who ran a red light and struck your vehicle at full speed leaves very little room for a comparative fault argument against you. That directly affects how much of your total damages you actually collect.

Compensable damages include current and future medical expenses, lost income, loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, and property damage. New Jersey courts also award punitive damages against drunk drivers in appropriate cases, particularly when the driver's BAC was extremely high or the conduct was especially reckless. Punitive damages are not available in every claim, but in a drunk driving context, the facts frequently support the argument.

How New Jersey's Insurance Framework Affects Your Drunk Driving Claim

New Jersey is a no-fault insurance state. Your own Personal Injury Protection coverage pays initial medical bills regardless of who caused the accident. The statutory minimum is $15,000, though many policies carry higher limits.

Whether you can step outside the no-fault system and pursue the at-fault driver directly depends on the type of policy you carry. New Jersey gives drivers two options.

The limitation on lawsuit option, also called the verbal threshold, restricts your right to sue for pain and suffering unless your injuries meet a specific threshold under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8(a). Qualifying injuries include permanent injury, significant disfigurement, displaced fractures, and death. The no limitation on lawsuit option, or zero threshold, preserves your right to sue for any injury regardless of severity.

If you carry the verbal threshold policy, a drunk driving case with serious injuries almost always satisfies the threshold. A New Jersey drunk driving accident lawyer should confirm this during the initial evaluation, because the answer directly shapes which damages are available to you.

If the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured, which occurs more frequently in DWI cases than most people expect, your own UM/UIM coverage becomes the primary recovery mechanism. Reviewing your own policy alongside the at-fault driver's coverage is standard practice at The Reinartz Law Firm from day one of case intake.

Sorting out which policy pays first, and in what order, is exactly the kind of analysis we handle from day one. Call (201) 289-8614 for a free review of your coverage and your claim.

What Is the Bergen County Civil Litigation Timeline?

When we file a drunk driving lawsuit in Bergen County, the case enters the Civil Division. Your litigation proceeds through the historic Bergen County Justice Center at 10 Main Street in Hackensack.

• Step 1 begins with filing the formal complaint. Our team details the facts of the crash and names all negligent parties, including commercial venues.
• Step 2 triggers the discovery phase. Both sides exchange evidence, take depositions under oath, and review medical evaluations. Specifically, this phase exposes the insurance company's hidden risk assessments.
• Step 3 involves mandatory court-ordered arbitration. If the insurance provider refuses a fair resolution after this step, we proceed directly toward a jury trial.

Do Passengers Keep Medical Benefits After a Drunk Driving Crash?

Passengers injured inside an impaired driver's vehicle frequently worry that the driver's criminal choices invalidate all insurance coverage. In contrast to standard liability claims, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) functions under strict no-fault rules.

Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.2, New Jersey enforces a specific "primacy of coverage" rule for passengers. Your own household auto insurance policy pays your initial medical bills first, even if you occupied someone else's vehicle.

If you do not own a vehicle or live with insured relatives, the PIP policy covering the car you occupied must step in. Specifically, insurers cannot exclude passengers from medical coverage unless the passenger actively participated in a felony or fled arrest under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-7.

What Happens After You Retain a Drunk Driving Accident Attorney

Investigation begins immediately. A drunk driving accident lawyer working your case takes several parallel steps from the start.

First, preserving criminal case evidence. Police reports, breathalyzer results, dashcam footage, and witness statements from the scene all carry evidentiary weight in your civil case. Many of these records require formal legal requests within defined timeframes.

Second, investigating the alcohol source. If a bar, restaurant, or social host is a potential defendant, that investigation starts at once. Vendor licenses, surveillance systems, bartender schedules, and purchase records are all time-sensitive materials.

Third, managing the insurance timeline. New Jersey requires PIP claims to be submitted within specific windows. Missed deadlines create coverage disputes. Your attorney handles this coordination so gaps do not develop while your case is being built.

Fourth, filing within the statute of limitations. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2, personal injury claims in New Jersey carry a two-year limitations period from the date of the accident. Wrongful death claims carry the same two-year window measured from the date of death under N.J.S.A. 2A:31-3. Missing that deadline eliminates your case regardless of its merits.

Cases in Bergen and Hudson County are filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey. Richard Reinartz holds admissions to both the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and appears regularly in the local courts where these cases are tried and resolved.

Richard is personally involved in the day-to-day handling of every case at the firm. That is not a marketing line. It is how the firm operates. Clients who have worked with him describe his hands-on involvement directly. As Lori F. wrote in her review, Richard "made it very easy to communicate with him via email, phone, texts," and "is obviously well respected by the insurance companies and other attorneys."

Frequently Asked Questions

Call The Reinartz Law Firm Before the Evidence in Your Case Starts to Disappear

Drunk driving cases move on two tracks simultaneously, criminal and civil, and the evidence supporting both begins to shift the moment the scene clears. Bar surveillance footage overwrites automatically. Witnesses become unreachable. Insurance adjusters start building their file before you have anyone building yours.

Richard Reinartz is an AV Preeminent-rated trial lawyer, a life member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and has been selected to Super Lawyers every year since 2010. He handles drunk driving accident claims throughout New Jersey from the firm's Hackensack office at Court Plaza South, 21 Main Street, Suite 205.

The firm works on contingency. There are no hourly fees and no upfront costs. The Reinartz Law Firm only gets paid if a settlement or judgment is obtained for you.

Call (201) 289-8614 or book a free consultation online to find out what your claim is actually worth and what recovery options the specific facts of your case support.