Hit by a drunk driver while on a motorcycle. Can I sue?

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mississippi

I am a 21 year old female. I was hit nearly two years ago by a drunk driver while riding my motorcycle. The driver was extremely intoxicated. In fact, he was returning from a "beer run" when he hit me. He turned left into my lane and we basically hit head-on. There is NO debate that the accident was his fault, and he has admitted this.

He was taken to jail and has been there since that day. I was not able to attend his DUI trial, and he is only serving 4-5 years of a possible 25 year sentence. It was his third DUI. He did not own the car he was driving, it was his wife's car and she had $50k worth of insurance on it.

My medical bills are over 100 thousand. My left thumb was split, my right wrist was broken, and my pelvis was broken in three places. My left leg was broken and cut open by a piece of his fender, so I now have several huge scars and am missing a large portion of my calf muscle. My left knee was basically destroyed - three out of 4 ligaments were torn and the knee itself was "broken."

Most of my injuries were fixed in the hospital but they wouldn't do anything for my knee. They told me that it wasn't life threatening and I didn't have insurance or any money, so they wouldn't fix it. I could walk on crutches, they said. So I am still walking around on 1 knee ligament. It is very painful and sometimes extremely hard to walk.

Right now, I have a lawyer who is working on getting the man's wife's insurance to cover my medical bills. As it stands, they are trying to get the hospitals to accept 20k for all medical expenses, the lawyer is going to take 10k, and I am going to get 20k. However, this 20k (if I even ever get it, I'm really starting to wonder) will not even cover the surgeries I still need on my knee.

Should I sue? I am totally clueless about everything and my lawyer is less than helpful. Also, I was driving without a license when the accident occurred. I have a feeling this will stop me from trying to get anything more, although no one has mentioned it yet (lawyers, ins companies). I was young and dumb and I realize I shouldn't have been driving (I've got a license now, and health insurance and car insurance. I definitely learned my lesson).

Anyone have any advice?

If you get $20k in your pocket after all your medical and legal bills have been paid, when in fact your bills are more then twice as much as their coverage, you will be EXTREMELY fortunate. You have health insurance now that should cover any additional treatment you may need. And unless the drunk driver or his wife are independently wealthy, it's not likely you'd be able to collect on any judgement over and above their insurance coverage anyway, so it would be a waste of time and money to pursue one.

ecmst12 said:

If you get $20k in your pocket after all your medical and legal bills have been paid, when in fact your bills are more then twice as much as their coverage, you will be EXTREMELY fortunate. You have health insurance now that should cover any additional treatment you may need. And unless the drunk driver or his wife are independently wealthy, it's not likely you'd be able to collect on any judgement over and above their insurance coverage anyway, so it would be a waste of time and money to pursue one.

Click to expand...

Well that is the problem, I won't have 20k in my pocket after all is said and done. I will be about -20k, because I still have several knee surgeries left. And no, health insurance does not cover preexisting conditions.

They are not independently wealthy, but they do have a home and both of them will have jobs (at least, once he gets out of jail).

I'm not looking for a get rich quick scheme. I just want to be able to walk normally again. At 21 years old, I think this is reasonable.

Where do you have the health insurance from? Is it from your work, or an individual policy?

It is from my employer.

Then the MAXIMUM amount of time they can exclude coverage for a pre-existing condition is 12 months. After you have been covered for a year, they have to cover everything. And that's IF the policy even has a pre-existing exclusion to begin with - many employer-sponsored plans don't, because administering them is so expensive and time-consuming, it often negates any savings they would get from having the exclusion.

Now, I'm sure they won't cover 100% of everything you need, but it should leave you with a manageable out of pocket amount.

Do you not have UNDERinsured motorist coverage on your motorcycle policy?

I don't think OP had ANY insurance at the time, or a license for that matter...