McAllen Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer

Drunk Driving Accident Attorney in McAllen, TX

A drunk driver made a choice, and now you are the one living with it: the hospital bills, the missed paychecks, the car that is gone. You want to know who is responsible, whether the bar that kept serving that driver shares the blame, and what you should do first. You deserve straight answers.

Texas law lets you recover your losses from the drunk driver, and in many cases from the bar or restaurant that kept serving someone who was obviously intoxicated. The DWI charge is the prosecutor’s case, and it will not pay your medical bills. Your injury claim is a separate case that you control, with its own two-year deadline.

Attorney Abraham Peña is a McAllen personal injury lawyer who was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley. His practice handles injury cases only, in English and in Spanish. Tell us what happened, and we will tell you honestly where your case stands and what we would do next.

Drunk Driving Accidents in McAllen

According to TxDOT’s 2024 Crash Facts, 1,053 people died in Texas crashes involving a driver under the influence of alcohol that year, about one in every four traffic deaths in the state. The same report counts 130 alcohol-related crashes inside McAllen city limits in 2024.

In Texas, a driver is legally intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher, or when alcohol or drugs have taken away the normal use of their mental or physical faculties.

What to Do After a Crash With a Drunk Driver

The evidence in a drunk driving case disappears fast. If you are able, take these steps:

• Call 911 and say you think the other driver is impaired. The breath or blood test that follows becomes key evidence in your claim.
• Get medical care the same day. DHR Health in Edinburg is the Valley’s Level I trauma center. Even if you feel fine, a same-day visit documents your injuries.
• Notice where the driver was coming from. A receipt, a wristband, or something the driver tells the officer can point to the bar that served them.
• Photograph the scene and get witness names. Both are hard to recreate later.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the driver’s insurer. Send the adjuster to us.

Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Drunk Driving Crash?

The drunk driver is not always the only one who owes you. Depending on what happened, we look at:

• The drunk driver and that driver’s auto insurance.
• The bar, restaurant or store that served them. Under the Texas Dram Shop Act, a business that keeps serving someone who is obviously intoxicated and a clear danger can be held responsible for the crash that follows.
• An adult who gave alcohol to a minor. An adult who knowingly serves alcohol to someone under 18, or allows it on property they own or lease, can be liable for the harm that follows.
• The driver’s employer, if the driver was on the job at the time.
• Your own insurance. If the drunk driver had little or no coverage, your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and personal injury protection can help pay.

Bars often erase their video within days, so we send a letter demanding that it be preserved right away.

What You Can Recover After a Drunk Driving Accident

Every case is different, but Texas law allows injured people to seek compensation for:

• Medical expenses, including emergency care, surgery, therapy and future treatment
• Lost wages and the loss of your ability to earn in the future
• Physical pain and mental anguish
• Scarring, disfigurement and physical impairment
• Damage to your vehicle and other property
• Exemplary (punitive) damages, which punish the driver for choosing to drive drunk
• Wrongful death damages if a loved one was killed (see our McAllen wrongful death lawyer page)

Texas usually caps punitive damages, but the cap does not apply when a drunk driver’s conduct rises to intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter, the felonies charged when a drunk driver seriously injures or kills someone. Insurance matters too: Texas drivers only have to carry $30,000 per person in coverage, while bars usually carry far more.

How Long Do You Have to File, and Does Fault Matter?

In most cases, you have two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit in Texas, or two years from the date of death in a wrongful death case. That clock keeps running while the criminal case is pending. If a city or county vehicle was involved, written notice is due within six months, and some city charters set an even shorter period.

Texas also follows a modified comparative fault rule. If you are found 50 percent or less at fault, your recovery is reduced by your share. At 51 percent or more, you recover nothing. If a jury awarded $200,000 and found you 10 percent at fault, for example, you would receive $180,000.

FAQs

The drunk driver was arrested. Do I still need my own lawyer?

Yes. The prosecutor represents the State of Texas, not you, and a conviction does not pay your medical bills. Your injury claim against the driver, their insurer and any bar that overserved them is a separate case with its own evidence and its own deadline.

Do I have to wait until the criminal case is over?

No. Your injury claim can move forward while the criminal case is pending, and you can win it even if the driver is acquitted or pleads to a lesser charge. The arrest report and test results can be used as evidence in your claim.

How do I prove the bar overserved the driver?

With the bar’s own records and the people who were there: receipts, tab histories, surveillance video, witness accounts and the driver’s blood alcohol result. This evidence has to be preserved early.

What if the drunk driver had no insurance?

Your own uninsured motorist coverage can pay what the driver should have paid, up to your policy limit, and personal injury protection covers medical bills and lost income regardless of fault. A claim against the bar that served the driver may be another source of recovery.

I was a passenger in the drunk driver’s car. Can I still recover?

Yes. You can bring a claim against the driver and their insurer, and possibly against the bar. The insurer may argue you should have known not to get in the car, but that only reduces your recovery if a jury agrees, and it does not end your claim unless your share of fault is more than half.

How much does it cost to hire a drunk driving accident lawyer?

Nothing upfront. We take these cases on a contingency fee, so our fee comes out of what we recover for you. If we do not recover anything, you do not owe us a fee.

contact Attorney Abraham Peña

Call Us (737) 999-3335

Talk to a McAllen Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Today

Nothing undoes what a drunk driver took from you, but the law can make the people responsible pay for it. Call The Law Office of Abraham Peña, PLLC at (737) 999-3335 or reach us through our contact page for a free, confidential consultation. There is no fee unless we win, and we meet by appointment at 813 N Main St., Suite 404, McAllen. ¡Hablamos español! Esta página también está disponible en español: abogado de accidentes por conductor ebrio en McAllen.