Hit by a Drunk Driver in Austin?
In 2024, TxDOT recorded 916 DUI-alcohol crashes inside Austin city limits. More than two a day, every day, all year. Twenty-one people killed. Hundreds more hurt.
If a drunk driver turned your life upside down, you are not powerless. Texas law lets you go after the driver, and often the bar, employer, or host who put them on the road. The right lawyer is the difference between a partial recovery and a full one.
- What Should I Do Right After Being Hit by a Drunk Driver?
- Can I Sue the Bar That Served the Drunk Driver?
- What if the Drunk Driver Doesn’t Have Enough Insurance?
- How Much Can You Sue a Drunk Driver For?
- What Is the Best Defense Against a Drunk Driver?
- How Long Does a Drunk Driver Lawsuit Take?
- Is It Worth Getting an Attorney After a Car Accident?
- FAQ: Quick Answers
You were hit by someone who made a choice. We make sure they pay for it, and so does everyone who helped put them behind the wheel. No pressure, no runaround, no getting passed to a paralegal. Just a lawyer who answers the phone and a team that wins. We have a 100% success rate. Reach out for a free consultation.
What Should I Do Right After Being Hit by a Drunk Driver?
The first few hours shape the rest of your case. Here is what to do.
Call 911. Ask for police and EMS. The officer’s report is one of the most important documents in your case. It will note any signs of impairment.
Get checked out, even if you feel fine. Adrenaline hides injuries. Whiplash, concussions, and internal bleeding often do not show up for hours. Refusing care at the scene will be used against you later.
Ask the officer about impairment testing. Field sobriety tests, breath tests, and blood draws are critical evidence. Note whether they happened.
Take photos of everything. The cars. The scene. Skid marks. The other driver. Your injuries. Any open containers you can see in their car.
Get witness names and phone numbers. Witnesses disappear fast.
Do not give a statement to the other driver’s insurance company. They will call. You do not have to talk to them. Anything you say will be used to lower your payout.
Call a lawyer before you sign anything or cash any check. Even a small early payment can waive your right to future compensation.
The sooner you call a lawyer, the more evidence we can lock down. Surveillance footage from nearby businesses is often erased within a week or two.
Can I Sue the Bar That Served the Drunk Driver?
Often, yes. This is one of the most important questions in a drunk driving case, and most victims never think to ask it.
Under Texas dram shop law, a bar, restaurant, or club can be held liable if they served alcohol to someone who was already obviously drunk, and that person then caused a crash. The same rule can apply to private hosts who serve minors.
Here is why it matters. The drunk driver’s auto insurance is usually nowhere near enough to cover a serious injury. Texas only requires drivers to carry $30,000 per person in bodily injury coverage. Real injuries cost far more. A dram shop claim opens up the bar’s business insurance, which is often many times larger.
Signs a dram shop claim may apply to your case:
- The driver was coming from a bar, restaurant, or sports venue
- Receipts or social media show heavy drinking before the crash
- The BAC was very high, suggesting the driver was already drunk when served
- Witnesses saw the driver stumbling, slurring, or being cut off and then served again
- A private host served alcohol to a minor
We look at this on every drunk driving case we take. Learn more on our Austin dram shop lawyer page.
Other parties may also share the blame:
- The driver’s employer, if they were on the clock or in a company vehicle
- A rideshare or delivery company, if the driver was logged in and working
Finding every liable party is how cases actually get fully paid.
What if the Drunk Driver Doesn’t Have Enough Insurance?
Happens all the time. The driver who hit you has minimum coverage or none, and your injuries are far bigger than that. You still have options.
Dram shop claims. Usually the biggest source of additional money.
Employer liability. If the driver was working at the time of the crash.
Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. If you carry UM/UIM on your own auto policy, it covers the gap when the at-fault driver does not have enough. Using it will not raise your rates when you were not at fault. Most people do not know they have it, or they are afraid to use it. You should not be.
Other at-fault drivers. Sometimes more than one driver caused the crash.
Health insurance and med-pay. These can pay your medical bills while the case is pending and get reimbursed from the settlement.
Finding every dollar of available coverage is part of the job. On underinsured cases, that work is usually where the real money is.
How Much Can You Sue a Drunk Driver For?
As much as the evidence supports. Texas does not cap economic or pain-and-suffering damages in most personal injury cases. Drunk driving cases can also unlock punitive damages, which most other car accident cases cannot.
What you can recover falls into three buckets:
Economic damages. Medical bills, future medical care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, property damage. Anything with a receipt or a paycheck behind it.
Non-economic damages. Pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of a loved one. The losses that changed your life but do not come with a price tag.
Punitive damages. Extra money meant to punish the driver for gross negligence. Common in drunk driving cases, especially with a high BAC or a prior DWI.
The real question is not what the ceiling is. The real question is what the evidence supports and what insurance is actually there to pay. A case with huge injuries and no insurance is worth less in real life than a case with moderate injuries, a dram shop claim, and a big commercial policy behind it. That is why we chase every liable party, every time.
If anyone tells you drunk driving cases “average” a specific number, they are selling you something. What we can tell you for free is what your case actually looks like.
What Is the Best Defense Against a Drunk Driver?
Move fast, and go after everyone responsible.
Drunk driving cases are won or lost in the first few weeks, before evidence disappears. That means four things.
Save the evidence. Police reports. BAC results. Bar and restaurant receipts. Surveillance footage. Witness statements. Phone records. Most of it has a short shelf life. Surveillance tapes get overwritten in a week or two. Memories fade. Receipts get thrown out.
Find every liable party. Not just the driver. The bar that over-served them. The employer if they were on the clock. The host of the party. The rideshare company if they were logged in. Each new defendant means more insurance on the table, and insurance is what actually pays your bills.
Protect yourself from the insurance company. Drunk driving cases get fast early offers. Insurance companies know the facts look bad and they want to close the file. That first offer is almost never what the case is worth.
Call a lawyer before you give a statement, sign anything, or cash any check. Every one of those moves can cost you money.
The strongest defense is offense. The faster you start building the case, the bigger it usually ends up.
How Long Does a Drunk Driver Lawsuit Take?
It depends on the case. Here is a realistic range.
Simple cases with cooperative insurance. A few months to a year. This is rare. It happens when liability is clean, your injuries are fully treated, and the insurance company decides paying is cheaper than fighting.
Cases with a dram shop claim or multiple defendants. One to two years. These cases are bigger, which means they take longer, but they also pay out a lot more.
Cases that go to trial. Two years or more. Only a small share of cases reach a courtroom. When they do, the timeline stretches.
A few things drive the clock:
- Your medical treatment. We usually do not settle until you have reached full recovery or a clear picture of your long-term care. Settling early means leaving future medical bills on the table.
- The insurance company. Some pay fairly. Most do not, and the fight takes time.
- How many liable parties there are. Dram shop investigations take work. They are worth it, but they add weeks.
- Court schedules. If the case has to be filed, the court’s calendar controls part of the timeline.
The biggest mistake people make is rushing to settle just to be done with it. That urgency is almost always a losing trade. A patient case, handled well, pays more.
Is It Worth Getting an Attorney After a Car Accident?
If a drunk driver hit you, yes.
People who try to handle these claims on their own almost always end up with far less than they should have. Not because they did anything wrong. Because the insurance company’s entire business depends on paying you less than the case is worth, and they are very good at it.
Here is what a good lawyer actually does on a case like this:
- Finds every liable party, not just the driver. This is where the biggest recoveries come from.
- Locks down evidence before it disappears.
- Handles the insurance company so you never have to give a statement or fight a trained adjuster.
- Builds the case for punitive damages where the facts support it.
- Works with medical providers so you can get care without paying out of pocket while the case is pending.
- Takes the case to trial when the insurance company will not pay fairly. Insurance companies know which firms actually try cases. That reputation shapes every offer they make.
The lawyer you hire matters more than most people know. One lawyer gets you one result. Another gets you several times more. That is not marketing. That is how personal injury law works.
Common Injuries We Handle
Drunk driving crashes tend to be high-speed and often head-on. The injuries are some of the worst we see:
- Traumatic brain injuries and concussions
- Spinal cord damage and paralysis
- Broken bones and crush injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Whiplash and soft tissue injuries
- Burns and scarring
- Psychological trauma and PTSD
- Wrongful death
What Does It Cost to Hire Feltoon Law?
Nothing up front. Nothing at all unless we win. We work on contingency. You pay zero out of pocket. We only get paid as a percentage of what we recover for you. The free consultation is actually free.
Call (737) 281-9100 anytime. We answer 24/7. Or fill out the free consultation form and we will reach out within one business day.
No pressure. No upfront cost. Straight answers from a team that takes these cases seriously.