Drunk Driving Accidents.

The criminal case punishes the driver. It does not pay for what the driver did to you. That is a separate fight, and it is yours.

When a drunk driver injures you, two cases run on separate tracks. The State prosecutes the DWI to punish the crime, and that case can send someone to jail, but it does not compensate you for medical bills, lost income, or a permanently changed life. The civil case does that, and it belongs to you, not the prosecutor. It can proceed whether or not the criminal case ends in a conviction, because the burden of proof in a civil case is lower.

Gross negligence and the conduct behind the crash

Choosing to drive drunk is not an ordinary mistake. Texas law allows a jury to consider exemplary damages when a defendant acted with gross negligence, a conscious indifference to the rights and safety of others. Drunk driving sits close to the center of what that phrase means. Proving it requires the right evidence gathered early: the criminal file, the blood or breath results, the officer's observations, and the timeline of where the driver was drinking before getting behind the wheel.

The Texas Dram Shop Act

The driver is often not the only one at fault. Under the Texas Dram Shop Act, a bar or restaurant can be held responsible when it serves alcohol to a customer who was already obviously intoxicated to the point of being a clear danger, and that customer then causes harm. These cases turn on receipts, server records, video, and the accounts of other patrons, all of which disappear quickly. Identifying and preserving that proof in the first days can add a responsible, solvent defendant to a case where the driver alone cannot cover the harm.