Houston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer

How Can a Houston Drunk Driving Accident Attorney Help You After a Crash?

A Houston DUI case is more than a routine auto accident claim. It involves a driver who made a deliberate choice to get behind the wheel impaired, and it often involves additional parties whose actions made the crash possible. 

Our attorneys investigate every angle of your case so that every person and business responsible is held to account.

When you work with Pierce Skrabanek, we handle:

• Investigating the crash scene, securing surveillance footage, and identifying witnesses;
• Obtaining police reports, toxicology results, and bar or restaurant receipts where the driver was served;
• Coordinating with accident reconstruction professionals to establish how the crash happened;
• Working with medical professionals to document the full extent of your injuries and future care needs;
• Filing claims against the impaired driver's insurance, your own underinsured motorist coverage, and any third party that contributed to the harm;
• Pursuing a dram shop claim against an establishment that overserved the driver, where the evidence supports it;
• Negotiating with insurance adjusters who are trained to minimize what they pay; and
• Taking the case to trial when an insurer refuses to offer a fair settlement.

“Our focus has always been on giving clients the resources they need to rebuild their lives after devastating crashes. That’s the measure of success we hold ourselves to.”

— Paul Skrabanek, Firm Partner

What Kind of Settlement Can a Houston DUI Accident Lawyer Help Secure?

Settlements for Houston DUI car accident lawsuits may cover:

• Medical bills for ambulance care, hospital stays, surgeries, medications, and ongoing physical therapy
• Job-related losses like lost wages, reduced wages, unemployment, and the loss of benefits like health insurance or retirement contributions
• Property damage to your vehicle and compensation for any alternative means of transportation you need in the meantime
• Pain and suffering losses such as PTSD, reduced enjoyment of life, or stress negatively impacting your marriage or children
• Wrongful death damages such as funeral costs and the irreplaceable loss of your deceased loved one's companionship

The Houston DUI accident attorneys at Pierce Skrabanek have recovered multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts for clients injured in automobile accidents. Research from Martindale-Nolo found that injury victims represented by attorneys generally recovered significantly more compensation than those who handled claims on their own, even after accounting for legal fees.

In one of these cases, the verdict we secured was approximately five times the highest pretrial settlement offer. We are experienced in tough insurance negotiations and will not settle for less. We are fully prepared to take your case in front of a jury to secure the compensation you need.

What Are Texas Drunk Driving Laws?

Understanding the laws that apply to your case helps explain why drunk drivers, and sometimes the establishments that served them, can be held financially responsible for the harm they cause.

The BAC Limit in Texas

Texas law makes it illegal to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher for drivers 21 and over. Commercial drivers operating in Houston are held to a stricter standard at 0.04% BAC. For drivers under 21, Texas applies a zero-tolerance policy, meaning any detectable amount of alcohol can result in a DUI charge.

Impairment Alone Is Enough

A driver in Houston can be charged with DWI even with a BAC below 0.08% if they show clear signs of impairment, such as erratic driving, slurred speech, or failed field sobriety tests. Drugged driving cases also fall under Texas DWI law, including impairment from prescription medications, marijuana, and illegal drugs.

Implied Consent

Drivers in Texas are subject to the state's implied consent law, meaning that by operating a vehicle on public roads, you have agreed to submit to a chemical test if lawfully arrested for suspicion of DWI. Refusing a breath or blood test results in an automatic 180-day license suspension for a first refusal and a two-year suspension for repeat refusals.

Criminal Penalties

A first-offense DWI in Texas is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to $2,000 in fines, three to 180 days in jail, and a driver's license suspension of up to one year. A second offense increases the fines to $4,000 and the jail time to a maximum of one year. 

A third offense becomes a third-degree felony with fines up to $10,000 and two to ten years in prison. Aggravated charges apply when the driver causes serious injury or death.

Texas Dram Shop Liability

Under the Texas Dram Shop Act, a bar, restaurant, or other establishment that sells alcohol can be held liable when it serves a visibly intoxicated person or a minor who later causes a crash. 

The law gives Houston DUI accident victims a path to recover compensation from the business that overserved the driver, in addition to the driver themselves. These claims often expand the available insurance coverage significantly.

What Are the Most Common Injuries in Houston DUI Accidents?

Drunk drivers tend to hit harder than other drivers. They are slower to react, slower to brake, and often traveling faster than the road allows. The injuries that follow tend to land on the more serious end of what emergency rooms see every day.

The injuries our Houston DUI accident attorneys see most often include:

• Traumatic brain injuries (TBI), including concussions, contusions, and severe brain trauma that can affect memory, concentration, mood, and the ability to return to work
• Spinal cord injuries and paralysis, including incomplete and complete paralysis, herniated discs, and permanent changes to mobility
• Multiple fractures, including pelvis, ribs, arms, legs, and facial bones
• Internal organ damage and internal bleeding, often not immediately apparent at the crash scene
• Burns and disfigurement, particularly in high-speed collisions or crashes involving fuel fires
• Crush injuries and amputations, frequently the result of high-impact T-bone or rollover collisions
• Soft tissue injuries, including whiplash, herniated discs, and torn ligaments that can lead to chronic pain
• Psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and survivor's guilt after a serious or fatal DUI crash

The harm from a serious DUI injury reaches into work, family life, independence, and the things you used to do without thinking. A Houston DUI accident lawyer can document the full scope of what the crash has cost you and pursue compensation that accounts for both your current care and the years ahead.

A drunk driver made a decision that changed your life. Pierce Skrabanek represents people seriously injured in Houston DUI crashes and pursues the compensation needed to move forward. 

Call (832) 690-7000 for a free case review with a Houston drunk driving accident lawyer.

How Common Are DUI Accidents in Houston?

Houston has one of the worst drunk driving problems in the country. The numbers below show how widespread the issue is across Harris County and the surrounding region:

• 3,338 alcohol-involved crashes in Harris County in a recent annual reporting period;
• 4,665 alcohol-related crashes across the greater Houston region, including Brazoria, Galveston, Montgomery, and Waller counties;
• I-45 in Houston has the highest rate of drunk driving-related fatalities in the United States and is considered the most dangerous road in the country;
• Houston ranked among the top three U.S. cities for drunk driving in a 2025 national analysis, behind only Memphis and Detroit;
• Over 100 fatal drunk driving crashes in Houston in a recent reporting year, placing it among the small group of Texas cities with the highest DUI death counts;
• More than 1,000 deaths in Texas in 2024 from DUI-alcohol crashes, an average of three lives lost every day across the state;
• Roughly 25% of all Texas traffic deaths in 2024 involved a drunk driver; and
• More than 37% of fatally injured drivers in Texas had a BAC of 0.08% or higher.

Every one of those numbers is a person and a family. For those who have been harmed by drunk driving in Houston, a personal injury lawyer can help you take control of the situation and make sure your needs are prioritized.

Who Is Liable in a Houston DUI Accident Case?

The drunk driver is the most obvious responsible party, but they are usually not the only one. Identifying every defendant connected to the crash often determines how much compensation is actually available.

• The drunk driver. The impaired driver carries primary responsibility for the harm they caused. Your civil case can pursue the driver personally, along with their auto insurance carrier.
• The driver's employer. When the impaired driver was operating a company vehicle or driving in the course of employment, the employer may share liability. Commercial drivers, delivery drivers, and rideshare drivers all fall into situations where employer liability may apply.
• Bars, restaurants, and other alcohol vendors. Under the Texas Dram Shop Act, an establishment that served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person or a minor can be held liable when that person later causes a Houston DUI crash. These claims often require receipts, surveillance footage, and witness statements gathered quickly before evidence disappears.
• Social hosts in limited situations. Texas social host liability is narrow, but a private host can be held responsible for serving alcohol to a minor under 18 who later causes a crash.
• Vehicle owners. When someone hands their keys to a person they know is likely to drive drunk, the owner of the vehicle may share liability for the harm that follows.

A Houston DUI accident lawyer will investigate every potentially responsible party so that no source of compensation is left on the table.

What If a Houston DUI Crash Caused Fatal Injuries?

There is no version of this that is fair. You may be planning a funeral instead of a recovery, sitting with a loss that came out of nowhere because a person you may have never met made a choice to drink and drive. Nothing a lawsuit produces can bring your loved one home.

What it can do is hold the drunk driver financially accountable, expose anyone else whose conduct made the death possible, and provide the resources your family needs to keep moving forward.

Texas law gives surviving family members two distinct paths to recover from those responsible.

A wrongful death claim can be brought by the surviving spouse, children, or parents of the person who died. The claim can recover the lost financial support your loved one would have provided over their lifetime, the household contributions and care they would have continued giving, the companionship and guidance the family has now lost, and the mental and emotional anguish the family is left carrying. Funeral and burial expenses are also recoverable.

A survival claim, brought by the estate, recovers what the deceased could have pursued if they had lived, including medical bills incurred between the crash and death and the pain and suffering they experienced in those hours or days.

Punitive damages are also available in Texas DUI wrongful death cases. Drunk driving qualifies as gross negligence under Texas law, which opens the door to additional damages designed to punish the wrongdoer. When the conduct involves a felony DWI, those damages are not subject to Texas's standard cap.

Wrongful death cases in Texas must generally be filed within two years of the date of death. Pierce Skrabanek can review the timeline that applies to your family's situation, handle every part of the legal process on your behalf, and give you the space to grieve while we pursue accountability.