Houston Ranks Second in the Country for Drunk Driving Incidents During the December Holiday Season. A Houston Car Accident Lawyer’s Perspective on What You Should Know if You Were Injured in a Car Accident Caused by a Drunk Driver.

With Thanksgiving behind us, the December holiday season is now officially underway. For many residents of greater Houston and the surrounding areas, our focus has already shifted to “holiday mode” and the various traditions associated with celebrating this time of year. Houston is one of the most diverse places in the country, so our holiday celebrations and traditions vary widely from one Houstonian to another. For some of us, celebrating the season means putting up holiday decorations, finding and purchasing gifts for loved ones, attending or throwing office parties, and celebrating the season with family and friends. For students and their families, the season often means final exams at the end of the semester followed by some time off, including a return home to Houston for some time with the family for those students who are studying in other places. The holiday season also means holiday traffic, mail delays, and omnipresent Christmas and holiday music everywhere you turn.

While there are many positive things that come with the holiday season, unfortunately for greater Houston this time of year also means a significant increase in the risk of being injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. Houston ranks second in the entire country for drunk driving incidents during the holiday season. Some of those incidents are going to inevitably result in situations where someone is injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.

If you’ or a loved one have been injured from a car accident caused by a drunk driver, it’s important to understand the legal issues that may apply to your personal injury claim. This blog discusses some of the most common and important issues relating to personal injury claims for car accidents caused by a drunk driver.

What Should I Do if I was in a Car Accident Caused by a Drunk Driver?

If you were in a car accident caused by a driver that you suspect was drunk or impaired, the first thing you should do is call the police from the scene of the accident and make it clear when you speak to the 911 operator that you think there is a chance the other driver who caused the crash may be intoxicated.

It is important to be calm in your interactions with the other driver, there is no need to escalate the situation or get into arguments about whether they are intoxicated. Alcohol impairs judgment and decision-making, and there is nothing positive that can result from getting into a possible argument with someone who may be intoxicated in any situation. This is especially true after a car accident, when emotions may already be running high due to the surge of adrenaline from the fight-or-flight response the sudden impacts and physical forces of a car accident trigger in the human body. These emotional responses may be increased when alcohol is added to the mix, as alcohol may sometimes amplify feelings of anger and make them harder to control.

The only interactions you need to have with the other driver who may be intoxicated are to calmly exchange information by obtaining as required by Texas law (obtain a copy of the other driver’s license and insurance information and provide them a copy of yours), confirm whether the other driver or anyone else in the other vehicle is injured and requires medical assistance so you can relay this information to the 911 operator, and calmly let the other driver know that you are reporting the accident to the police and they are on their way. Above all, it is extremely important to remain calm and do your best to avoid escalating the situation into a confrontation at the scene of the crash as you wait for the police to arrive.

If you are able to safely take photos or videos at the crash scene with your phone to document the circumstances immediately after the crash, you should do so, as these could later serve as important evidence for your personal injury claim to prove what actually happened and what caused the car accident.

Why is it So Important to Call the Police to the Crash Scene After a Car Accident if You Suspect the Other Driver Was Drunk?

If you suspect the other driver was drunk and their intoxication is what caused or contributed to the car accident, it is extremely important to call the police to the scene. They are the law enforcement professionals who have specialized training in determining whether someone was driving while intoxicated, and it is important to summon them to the crash scene so they can properly document what happened, conduct any additional investigations necessary including possible field sobriety tests, breathalyzer tests, or blood alcohol draw tests.

Driving While Intoxicated is illegal for a reason, and in situations where you were involved in a car accident and the other driver was possibly drunk, it is important to let the police know so that they can do their job to investigate the incident and take the appropriate actions to initiate criminal prosecution of the other driver if they determine that is the appropriate course of action.

If you choose to not call the police to report that the other driver was possibly drunk after a car accident, you are not doing anyone any favors. Drunk driving can be extremely dangerous, and it is a big problem in the greater Houston area. In 2023, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, in Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris, Galveston, Montgomery and Waller Counties, there were a total of:

• 4,665 DUI-alcohol related traffic crashes,
• 223 deaths caused by DUI-alcohol related car accidents, and
• 345 serious injuries caused by DUI-alcohol related car accidents.

If the other driver in the car accident may have been drunk, you need to call the police to make sure the facts are fully investigated as appropriate and any further necessary actions are taken by the criminal justice system. This is important to ensure that there is full accountability for the incident as appropriate and to hopefully make sure there is not a repeat of the incident if in fact the other driver was drunk/intoxicated. If you choose not to call the police, you are making a choice to possibly allow the other driver to avoid the consequences of their actions, and if they were intoxicated the lack of consequences makes it more likely that they will continue the same behavior, creating a greater risk of injury or death to themselves and others in the future.

In terms of your personal injury claim, if you or anyone in your vehicle was injured by a drunk driver in a car accident and you choose not to call the police, you need to understand that in all likelihood the other driver will later deny they were intoxicated and driving while impaired. This will significantly increase the chances that the insurance company responsible for paying the damages for your personal injury claim resulting from the accident will dispute liability for the car accident and try to claim the car accident. The common defense argument in these situations will be “if you thought the other driver was drunk, why didn’t you call the police?”

If You Were Injured in a Car Accident Caused by a Drunk Driver, if the Other Driver is Arrested and Criminally Prosecuted, There Will be an Unavoidable Delay in Getting Important Evidence for your Injury Claim While the Criminal Case Against the Other Driver is Pending.

If you were injured in a car accident involving a drunk driver and the other driver is arrested and criminally prosecuted for DWI, one of the most important things to understand in relation to your personal injury claim is that there will be an inevitable delay in getting some of the most important evidence for your injury claim while the criminal case against the other driver is pending.

This is due to the interaction between Texas criminal law which regulates the criminal prosecution of the other driver for Driving While Intoxicated and Texas civil law, which regulates your personal injury claim.

While the criminal case for DWI against the other driver is pending, you will have access to any evidence you personally obtained at the crash scene and some of the basic publicly available information such as the crash report and publicly available documents filed in the criminal court as part of the ongoing criminal case against the other driver.

However, you will not be able to access some of the most significant evidence while the criminal case against the other driver is still pending, such as the full police and prosecutor file, which you will be able to obtain via a subpoena after the criminal case against the other driver is completed. This is because while the criminal case is pending, the documents relating to the criminal case which are in the possession of the prosecuting district attorney’s office will typically not be produced for a subpoena issued in a civil case pursuant to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 30.006, In re Westwood Affiliates, L.L.C., 263 S.W.3d 176, 179 (Tex. App.–Houston [1st Dist.] 2007, orig. proceeding), and Hobson v. Moore, 734 S.W.2d 340, 340-41 (Tex. 1987). This is because the State of Texas public policy generally prioritizes criminal cases over civil cases for reasons relating to fundamental Constitutional rights, and production of documents relating to an ongoing criminal prosecution for a civil case could possibly implicate various concerns relating to the defendant’s Constitutional rights to a fair trial in the criminal proceedings. This does not mean that the civil case cannot move forward until the criminal case is complete, but the documents contained in the prosecuting district attorney’s files will often be some of the most significant evidence in the corresponding civil case. Once the criminal case is completed, the public policy concerns relating to the production of documents from the criminal case for the personal injury civil claim become moot, and it is typically possible to obtain most of the documents from the criminal case via a subpoena to use in the personal injury civil claim once the criminal case is completed.

Likewise, while the criminal case is still pending, the defendant can invoke their fifth amendment right against self-incrimination in the personal injury case, as the defendant’s answers to deposition questions or written discovery in the civil personal injury claim could possibly be used against them in a criminal proceeding that is ongoing. However, once the criminal proceeding against the defendant for Driving While Intoxicated is completed, the defendant no longer has any fifth amendment privileges that may be invoked in the personal injury claim for the drunk driving accident, because there would be no reasonable expectation of criminal prosecution once the criminal DWI case is completed.

What Personal Injury Damages Can I Recover if I was Injured in a Car Accident Caused by a Drunk Driver?

If you were injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver, you would be able to make a personal injury claim against the drunk driver under the legal theories of negligence and negligence per se.

Under these legal theories, you would be able to make a personal injury claim for any damages you suffered from the car accident caused by the drunk driver including the following:

• Past and future physical pain, suffering, and mental anguish,
• Past and future medical expenses
• Past and future loss of wages and earning capacity

Additionally, Texas law allows the recovery of punitive damages for driving while intoxicated.

Will Insurance Pay for Personal Injury Damages From a Car Accident Caused by a Drunk Driver?

If you were injured in an accident caused by the other driver being drunk, the other driver’s insurance will cover your personal injury damages caused by the other driver’s negligence and negligence per se, up to the amount of the insurance policy limits.

The other driver’s insurance will typically refuse to cover any punitive damages for conduct such as gross negligence.

The Texas Supreme Court has never directly addressed the issue whether the other driver’s insurance company would have to pay punitive damages in a situation where punitive damages are awarded against the other driver at trial after the insurance company refuses to settle a claim for an amount within the policy limits and becomes liable for an amount above the policy limits awarded at trial under the Stowers doctrine.

If you were injured in an accident caused by the other driver being drunk and the other driver was either uninsured or did not have sufficient insurance to fully cover your damages, if you had uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage you could also make a bodily injury claim under your uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance policy.

If You Were Injured in a Car Accident in Houston by a Drunk Driver, it is Important to Hire the Right Lawyer to Help You With Your Personal Injury Claim

Texas personal injury law is complicated. If you’ve been injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver, it’s important to get the legal help you need promptly to make sure that you obtain full and fair compensation for your personal injury claim.

Our experienced personal injury lawyers at The Kishinevsky Law Firm have helped injured clients in the greater Houston area and throughout the State of Texas to successfully obtain full and fair compensation for their damages, including in situations involving accidents caused by drunk drivers. If you’ve been injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver, contact our office today to schedule a free consultation to discuss your situation and find out how we may be able to help you to receive full and fair compensation for your claim.