Drunk Driving Accidents

Someone chose to drink and drive. That choice destroyed your life, your health, or your family. There is nothing accidental about it. A drunk driver who gets behind the wheel has made a conscious decision to put every person on the road at risk. Texas law treats that decision seriously — and so do I.

I am Michelle Acosta, and I handle drunk driving accident cases personally. These cases carry a weight that other personal injury claims do not. The injuries tend to be catastrophic because impaired drivers hit at full speed — they do not brake, they do not swerve, they do not react. And the law gives victims of drunk driving crashes access to a category of damages that most personal injury cases do not: punitive damages designed to punish the wrongdoer.

I have won a $56 million verdict in Harris County. I prepare every case for trial because the threat of a jury verdict is the most powerful tool a plaintiff's lawyer has. Insurance companies and defendants pay attention when they know the lawyer across the table has actually stood in front of a jury and won.

Texas DWI Law — The Criminal Case and Your Civil Case

Texas defines driving while intoxicated (DWI) as operating a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated. Under Texas Penal Code Section 49.01, "intoxicated" means a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher, or not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties due to alcohol, drugs, or a combination. For commercial vehicle drivers, the limit drops to 0.04%. For anyone under 21, Texas has a zero-tolerance policy — any detectable amount of alcohol is illegal.

Here is the critical distinction: the criminal DWI case and your civil personal injury case are separate proceedings. They can — and often do — run simultaneously. You do not need a criminal conviction to win your civil case. The burden of proof in a civil case is "preponderance of the evidence" (more likely than not), which is significantly lower than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard in criminal court.

A DWI conviction helps your civil case, but it is not required. Even if the criminal charges are reduced or dismissed — which happens more often than it should — you can still prove the driver was intoxicated and hold them financially accountable.

Evidence in Drunk Driving Cases

Drunk driving cases often have stronger evidence than other accident claims because law enforcement conducts impairment-specific investigations at the scene:

• Blood alcohol testing — BAC results from breathalyzer or blood draw tests. A BAC above 0.08% establishes intoxication per se. Even a BAC below 0.08% can support a civil claim if the driver was demonstrably impaired.
• Field sobriety tests — The standardized field sobriety test battery (horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk-and-turn, one-leg stand) and the officer's observations of impairment indicators.
• Dashcam and body camera footage — Houston police and Harris County Sheriff's deputies typically have body-worn cameras. This footage captures the driver's behavior, speech, balance, and responses to questioning.
• Bar and restaurant receipts — Credit card records, bar tabs, and point-of-sale data that document how much the driver consumed and over what time period. This evidence is critical for dram shop claims.
• Toxicology reports — In crashes involving serious injury or death, law enforcement typically obtains a blood draw that screens for alcohol and drugs, including prescription medications and illegal substances.
• Witness testimony — Bartenders, servers, fellow patrons, and passengers who observed the driver drinking before the crash.

The Dram Shop Act — Holding Bars and Restaurants Accountable

Texas does not just allow you to sue the drunk driver. Under the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Chapter 2 — commonly known as the Dram Shop Act — you can also hold the bar, restaurant, club, or other alcohol provider liable if they served the driver when it was "apparent to the provider" that the individual was "obviously intoxicated to the extent that he presented a clear danger to himself and others."

This is important because drunk drivers often have minimal insurance coverage or personal assets. The establishment that over-served them typically has commercial liability insurance with much higher limits. A successful dram shop claim can significantly increase the total recovery available to you.

Proving a dram shop claim requires evidence that the establishment continued to serve an obviously intoxicated person. Security camera footage from the bar, server notes, transaction records, and witness testimony all play a role. Time is critical — bars overwrite surveillance footage quickly, and memories fade. I move fast on these claims to preserve the evidence before it disappears.

Punitive Damages — Making the Defendant Pay

Most personal injury cases in Texas are limited to compensatory damages — medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering. Drunk driving cases are different. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 41, victims of drunk driving crashes can seek exemplary (punitive) damages.

Punitive damages are designed to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct. They are available when the defendant's actions involved gross negligence, malice, or fraud. Choosing to drive with a BAC well above the legal limit meets that threshold in most cases. A jury can award punitive damages on top of full compensatory damages.

Texas does cap exemplary damages: the greater of $200,000 or two times economic damages plus up to $750,000 in non-economic damages. But even with the cap, punitive damages can substantially increase your total recovery — and the threat of punitive exposure motivates defendants and insurers to settle for higher amounts.

Houston's Drunk Driving Problem

Houston has a nightlife culture that feeds directly into the drunk driving crisis. The city's entertainment corridors produce a steady stream of impaired drivers every weekend — and many weeknights:

• Washington Avenue — One of the densest bar corridors in Houston. Dozens of bars and clubs packed into a two-mile stretch produce heavy foot traffic and impaired driving from Shepherd to downtown.
• Midtown — Bars, restaurants, and clubs along Bagby, Main, and Travis generate heavy late-night traffic from impaired drivers heading home to the suburbs.
• Downtown / Main Street — The Theater District, Discovery Green events, and sports venues at Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center mix alcohol with massive crowds and congested streets.
• Montrose — Westheimer and Fairview between Shepherd and Montrose Boulevard are lined with bars and restaurants. The narrow streets and mixed residential/commercial character make impaired driving especially dangerous.
• EaDo (East Downtown) — Rapid growth in bars and breweries east of 59/69 has created a new hot spot for DWI-related crashes.

Houston's sprawl makes the problem worse. Unlike denser cities where people walk home or take transit, Houston drivers face long trips on high-speed highways to get home. A drunk driver on I-10 or 610 at 2 a.m. is a missile.

Types of Compensation in Drunk Driving Cases

Victims of drunk driving accidents can recover:

• Medical expenses — Emergency care, surgeries, hospitalization, rehabilitation, physical therapy, and all future medical treatment related to your injuries.
• Lost wages and earning capacity — Income you have lost and income you will lose in the future if your injuries reduce your ability to work.
• Pain and suffering — Physical pain endured and ongoing. Texas juries take this seriously when the evidence supports it.
• Mental anguish — Anxiety, PTSD, depression, sleep disturbance, and the emotional toll of being victimized by someone's reckless choice.
• Punitive damages — Additional compensation to punish the defendant's conduct and deter others from making the same dangerous choice.
• Wrongful death damages — If a drunk driver killed your loved one, Texas law allows the surviving spouse, children, and parents to recover for loss of companionship, loss of financial support, mental anguish, and funeral expenses.

Why Michelle Acosta Law

I am a trial lawyer. Gerry Spence Method trained. Super Lawyers Rising Star 2025 and 2026. National Trial Lawyers Top 100 in Civil Litigation. Top 25 Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers in Texas. I served as General Counsel overseeing 1,800 employees across 15 states before I opened my firm to fight for people instead of corporations.

Drunk driving cases demand a lawyer who is willing to take the case all the way to a jury. Insurance companies for bars and drunk drivers settle for more when they know the attorney on the other side does not bluff. I do not bluff.

I am bilingual — raised across Latin America and Asia, fluent in Spanish. If you or someone you love was hurt by a drunk driver in Houston, call me at (713) 933-3300 or request a free consultation. No fee unless we win.