Ontario Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers
If you were hit by a drunk or drug-impaired driver in Ontario, the criminal charge is only one part of what happens next. The injured person also has to deal with accident benefits, insurance forms, treatment records, income loss, and the civil claim against the at-fault driver.
Criminal cases can produce important evidence and serve to punish the perpetrator for their actions. However, the criminal case does not compensate you for your injuries. Your personal injury claim deals with the financial and medical consequences of the crash.
Foster Injury Law can represent people across Ontario who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents, including crashes caused by drunk, drug-impaired, uninsured, and hit-and-run drivers.
If you are looking for more general information about car accident cases, our Ontario car accident lawyers page explains the broader car accident claim process.
Injured by a Drunk or Impaired Driver in Ontario
Most people describe these as drunk driving accidents. In Canadian law, the more precise term is impaired driving.
Under the Criminal Code, impaired driving can involve alcohol, drugs, or a combination of alcohol and drugs. A driver can also be charged for operating a vehicle while over the legal blood alcohol limit, or while having a prohibited concentration of certain drugs in their body.
For the injured person, the most important questions are straightforward:
Did the impaired driver cause or contribute to the crash?
What did the police investigation find?
Is there insurance coverage?
Were other parties involved, such as a bar, restaurant, vehicle owner, employer, or social host?
How serious are the injuries and long-term losses?
Those questions guide the civil claim, even while the criminal case moves separately.
The Criminal Case and the Injury Claim Are Separate
After impaired driving crashes, the police can lay charges and the Crown can prosecute the driver. The driver could plead guilty, proceed to trial, or resolve the charge in a way that does not fully explain what happened to the injured person.
A conviction can be helpful for the civil case because it can be evidence that the driver was impaired or driving dangerously. But the injury claim still has to prove the injuries, the losses, and the connection between the crash and the person’s symptoms.
The reverse is also true. If the criminal charge is withdrawn, reduced, or not proven beyond a reasonable doubt, that does not automatically end the injury claim. Civil claims use a different standard of proof and focus on negligence, causation, and damages.
Can You Sue a Drunk Driver in Ontario?
Yes. If a drunk or impaired driver caused or contributed to the collision, the injured person is able to sue the at-fault driver. In most cases, the lawsuit is defended through insurance. The claim is not only about the driver’s conduct. It is about recovering compensation for the losses caused by the crash, including pain and suffering, income loss, medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, future care, housekeeping losses, out-of-pocket expenses, and family claims under Ontario’s Family Law Act.
Ontario motor vehicle lawsuits also have special rules. Pain and suffering claims are affected by the statutory threshold and deductible system. In many cases, the injured person must prove a permanent serious impairment of an important physical, mental, or psychological function, or a permanent serious disfigurement. FSRA publishes the indexed automobile insurance deductibles and thresholds each year.
That is why a drunk driving lawsuits still need strong medical and financial evidence. The impaired driving evidence helps prove fault, but the claim also has to show how the crash changed the injured person’s work, care needs, family life, and day-to-day function.
Accident Benefits After a Drunk Driving Crash
Accident benefits are separate from lawsuits against impaired drivers. They are available regardless of fault and Are there to help pay for treatment and income-related support after a motor vehicle accident.
Ontario accident benefits are governed by the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule. For policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2026, FSRA explains that medical, rehabilitation, and attendant care benefits remain mandatory, while many other accident benefits become optional.
This can affect income replacement benefits, non-earner benefits, caregiver benefits, housekeeping benefits, death and funeral benefits, visitor expenses, and other supports. After serious impaired driving crashes, Foster Injury Law can review the available policies, accident benefits forms, treatment denials, income loss issues, and whether the injuries could support a catastrophic impairment claim.
Evidence in a Drunk Driving Accident Claim
Impaired driving cases can encompass records that are not gathered in an ordinary car accident claim. Depending on the facts, important evidence can include police collision reports, officer notes, breath or blood testing records, drug recognition evidence, criminal disclosure, guilty plea or sentencing records, 911 calls, dash camera footage, surveillance video, witness statements, bar or restaurant receipts, ambulance records, hospital records, rehabilitation records, employment records, and insurance policies.
Insurance companies can accept that their driver was impaired while still disputing the seriousness of the injuries, the ability to work, the need for treatment, or the cost of future care. A strong claim is built with both liability evidence and medical evidence.
Early investigation is especially important where the impaired driver left a bar, restaurant, workplace event, private party, or commercial venue before the crash. Video can be overwritten, receipts can be lost, and witnesses can become harder to locate.
Punitive Damages in Drunk Driving Accident Claims
Punitive damages can be considered in some impaired driving cases. these serve a different purpose than compensation for the injured person’s losses. Their purpose is punishment, denunciation, and deterrence where the conduct is sufficiently wrongful.
They are not automatic just because alcohol or drugs were involved. The main focus of the claim usually remains compensation for treatment costs, income loss, pain and suffering, future care, attendant care, and the long-term effect of the injuries.
Bar, Restaurant, and Tavern Liability
Some impaired driving crashes can result in liability on more than the driver. A bar, restaurant, nightclub, banquet hall, golf course, event venue, or other commercial host should be investigated if the impaired driver was overserved before the crash. These claims often turn on how much alcohol was served, whether the driver showed signs of intoxication, whether staff kept serving alcohol, whether staff knew or should have known the person would drive, and what steps were taken before the person left.
The Supreme Court of Canada decision in Stewart v. Pettie is an important commercial host liability case. Ontario’s liquor rules are also relevant. Section 32 of the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 prohibits selling or supplying liquor, or permitting liquor to be sold or supplied, to a person who is or appears to be intoxicated.
Commercial host overservice cases can be important where the impaired driver has limited insurance, disputed coverage, or insufficient limits for a catastrophic injury or fatal accident.
Social Host Liability Is Different
Private hosts are treated differently from a licensed bar or restaurant.
The Supreme Court of Canada decision in Childs v. Desormeaux held that social hosts do not automatically owe a duty of care to members of the public injured by an intoxicated guest.
That does not mean a social host claim is always impossible. The facts need careful review, especially where the host created or increased the risk, exercised control over the situation, supplied alcohol in unusual circumstances, knew the guest was impaired and about to drive, or had a special relationship with the people involved.
What If the Drunk Driver Was Uninsured or Fled the Scene?
In our experience, impaired drivers are less likely to possess valid insurance.
The first step is to explore every avenue or source of insurance. Coverage could come from the injured person’s own policy, a household family member’s policy, the vehicle’s policy, another involved vehicle, family protection coverage, or another available insurer.
If no insurance is available, Ontario’s Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund can operate as a last resort. The Fund has its own forms, limits, procedures, and requirements. Uninsured and hit-and-run cases should be reviewed quickly because the wrong assumption about coverage can cause serious problems later.
Passengers, Pedestrians, and Cyclists Injured by an Impaired Driver
Passengers injured by a drunk driver can apply for accident benefits and, bring a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. Passengers will sometimes worry because the driver was a friend, relative, co-worker, or partner, but the claim is usually handled through insurance.
Insurance companies will argue that a passenger accepted a known risk by entering the vehicle. That weight on that argument depends on the specific evidence, including what the passenger knew, what they observed, whether impairment was obvious, whether there was another way home, and how the decision to ride in the vehicle happened. Even where that argument is made out, the passenger still has a case, compensation may just be reduced to some extent.
Pedestrians and cyclists hit by impaired drivers often suffer severe injuries because they have little protection. These cases can involve reconstruction evidence, lighting, visibility, crosswalk timing, bicycle positioning, road design, witness evidence, and police records.
For more focused information, see our Ontario pedestrian accident lawyers and Ontario bicycle accident lawyers pages.
Serious Injuries Caused by Drunk Driving Crashes
Drunk driving crashes more likely to entail late braking, wrong-way driving, head-on impacts, rollovers, roadway departures, and impacts with pedestrians or cyclists. The injuries can be life-changing.
Foster Injury Law focuses on serious injury claims, including traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, fractures, orthopedic injuries, chronic pain, psychological trauma, catastrophic impairment claims, and fatal accident claims.
If the crash caused a head injury, our Ontario brain injury lawyers page explains how brain injury claims are built around medical evidence, cognitive symptoms, functional changes, treatment, and long-term loss.
If the crash caused paralysis, bowel or bladder dysfunction, neuro-urological impairment, or other spinal trauma, see our Ontario spinal cord injury and paralysis lawyers page.
Where the injuries are life-altering, our Ontario catastrophic injury lawyers page explains how catastrophic impairment can affect accident benefits, attendant care, future care, and long-term support.
What To Do After Being Hit by a Drunk Driver in Ontario
Your health comes first. Seek emergency care, follow up with your doctor, and report new or worsening symptoms.
You should also report the collision to police, obtain the occurrence number or collision report number, notify your insurer, start the accident benefits claim promptly, and keep copies of insurance forms and letters. Save photographs, dash camera footage, repair documents, witness names, medical records, receipts, and employment documents.
How Foster Injury Law Helps
Foster Injury Law helps injured people deal with the legal and insurance consequences of drunk and impaired driving accidents across Ontario.
We can review the accident benefits claim, identify available insurance coverage, request police and medical records, investigate the impaired driver’s conduct, review whether a bar or restaurant should be investigated, deal with the insurance company, document income loss, assess future care needs, and start a lawsuit where appropriate.
We focus on serious injury cases in Ontario. Our goal is to build the claim around the full impact of the crash, not only the fact that the other driver was impaired.
Frequently Asked Questions About Drunk Driving Accident Claims in Ontario
Can I sue a drunk driver in Ontario?
Yes, if a drunk or impaired driver caused or contributed to the crash, you can bring a lawsuit against them. You can also apply for accident benefits regardless of fault.
Do I need to wait for the criminal case to finish before starting my injury claim?
No. The civil and insurance claims should usually move forward while the criminal case is ongoing.
What if the impaired driver is not convicted?
A withdrawn, reduced, or unsuccessful criminal charge does not automatically end the civil claim. The civil claim uses a different standard of proof and focuses on negligence, causation, and damages.
Can a bar or restaurant be sued after a drunk driving crash?
This happens sometimes. Commercial host claims can arise if a licensed venue overserved a driver or failed to take reasonable steps in the circumstances.
Can I still claim if I was a passenger in the drunk driver’s vehicle?
Yes. Passengers have accident benefits rights and a potential lawsuit. The insurance company might raise arguments about what the passenger knew before entering the vehicle, but that does not end the case.
What if the drunk driver had no insurance?
The first step is to review every possible source of insurance. If no insurance is available, Ontario’s Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund could be relevant as a last resort.
How long do I have to sue after a drunk driving crash in Ontario?
Ontario injury lawsuits are typically subject to a two-year limitation period, but shorter notice periods and insurance deadlines can apply. Accident benefits forms start much earlier, so the timeline should be reviewed promptly.
Speak With an Ontario Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer
If you or a family member were seriously injured by a drunk or impaired driver in Ontario, Foster Injury Law can help you understand the accident benefits claim, the lawsuit, the insurance issues, and the evidence that should be preserved.
Foster Injury Law represents seriously injured people across Ontario, including Barrie, Kitchener, Simcoe County, York Region, Peel Region, Hamilton, London, Ottawa, and surrounding communities.
Contact Foster Injury Law for a free consultation. There are no legal fees unless we recover compensation for you.