Hit by a Drunk Driver in Pennsylvania: How It Changes Your Claim

Attorney Answer

In Pennsylvania, being hit by a drunk driver changes your claim in one specific and important way. If you chose limited tort on your own policy, the other driver's DUI conviction, or their acceptance of ARD, gives you back the full right to sue for pain and suffering. The criminal case and your civil claim are separate, but that is the point where they meet.

The exception. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1705(d) normally bars a limited-tort driver from recovering noneconomic loss unless the injury is serious. But § 1705(d)(1) provides:

An individual otherwise bound by the limited tort election who sustains damages in a motor vehicle accident as the consequence of the fault of another person may recover damages as if the individual damaged had elected the full tort alternative whenever the person at fault:

is convicted or accepts Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) for driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance in that accident;

ARD, Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, is Pennsylvania's diversion program for many first-offense DUIs. The statute counts it the same as a conviction. So the outcome of the criminal case is worth following. It is public, and the district attorney's office can tell you where it stands. If you have full tort already, this exception changes nothing for you, because you keep those rights anyway.

If the drunk driver had no insurance, § 1705(d)(1) also restores full-tort rights where the person at fault:

has not maintained financial responsibility as required by this chapter, provided that nothing in this paragraph shall affect the limitation of section 1731(d)(2) (relating to availability, scope and amount of coverage).

Your own uninsured motorist coverage, if you bought it, covers injuries in that situation under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1731(b).

Restitution in the criminal case. If the driver is convicted, 18 Pa.C.S. § 1106(a) requires the court to order restitution:

Upon conviction for any crime wherein: (1) property of a victim has been stolen, converted or otherwise unlawfully obtained, or its value substantially decreased as a direct result of the crime; or (2) the victim, if an individual, suffered personal injury directly resulting from the crime, the offender shall be sentenced to make restitution in addition to the punishment prescribed therefor.

Restitution is ordered in the criminal case and does not replace a civil claim.

Your medical bills do not wait. Your own policy pays first-party medical benefits regardless of fault, under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1711(a) and § 1713(a).

What you can do

1. Get the police report and the criminal docket number for the DUI case.

2. Contact the district attorney's victim/witness office; they keep victims informed and handle restitution information.

3. Open a first-party medical claim with your own insurer.

4. Keep every medical record and bill, and a list of time missed from work.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Pennsylvania attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Your injury claim must be filed within two years under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524, which covers “An action to recover damages for injuries to the person or for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another.” That clock runs whether or not the criminal case is finished, so do not wait for the conviction to act.