Can I get punitive damages against a drunk driver in Texas?

Punishment, not just repayment

Most of what an injury claim recovers repays your losses: medical bills, lost wages, pain and the ways your life has changed. Texas also allows exemplary damages, often called punitive damages, to punish especially dangerous conduct and deter it. Choosing to drive drunk is a classic example.

What you must prove

• Gross negligence: the driver's conduct involved an extreme degree of risk, and he was actually aware of the risk but went ahead with conscious indifference to the safety of others. Drinking and then driving often fits.
• By clear and convincing evidence, a higher standard than in the rest of the case.
• With a unanimous jury on both liability for and the amount of exemplary damages.

Evidence that helps: the blood or breath alcohol result, how far above the legal limit he was, speed, wrong-way driving, fleeing the scene, prior DWIs and what he said to police.

The cap, and when it disappears

Texas normally caps exemplary damages at the greater of two times economic damages plus noneconomic damages up to $750,000, or $200,000. But the cap does not apply when the claim is based on conduct that is intoxication assault, a drunk-driving crash causing serious bodily injury, or intoxication manslaughter, a drunk-driving crash causing death.

Drunk-driving crashes in El Paso

El Paso police reported 575 alcohol-related crashes in 2023, 531 in 2024 and 558 in 2025, and 225 in just the first four months of 2026, along with a sharp rise in DWI arrests. TxDOT counted 26 alcohol-related deaths in El Paso County in 2024. Police have named Downtown near Stanton and I-10, Five Points, I-10 between Yarbrough and Lee Trevino, and the Zaragoza corridor as hotspots.

Who actually pays

Whether the drunk driver's insurance covers punitive damages depends on the policy. Many drivers have only minimum coverage, so we also look at:

• the vehicle owner's policy, and an employer's policy if he was working;
• a bar that overserved him, under dram shop law; when you can sue the bar;
• your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage;
• the driver's own assets, in serious cases.

Punitive damages and the criminal case

A DWI conviction, especially for intoxication assault or manslaughter, can be powerful evidence. But you don't need to wait for the criminal case to start your claim. How the criminal case and your claim fit together. Jimmy Suerken grew up in El Paso. He is a Mexican-American attorney who speaks Spanish, and you can talk with him directly. We handle El Paso cases the way we handle them in Houston: by phone, email and video call, and in person when needed.

Drunk-driver crashes in El Paso: what to know

Other ways people ask this

Is driving drunk automatically gross negligence?

Not automatically, but it often is, especially with a high alcohol level, speeding, wrong-way driving or prior DWIs. The evidence decides.

Does insurance pay punitive damages?

It depends on the policy's terms. That's one reason we look for every other source of recovery.

What is intoxication assault?

Under the Texas Penal Code, causing serious bodily injury to another person by accident or mistake while intoxicated and operating a vehicle. When the claim is based on it, the punitive damages cap doesn't apply.

Can a family get punitive damages after a death?

Yes, in many wrongful death cases, and the cap doesn't apply when the conduct amounts to intoxication manslaughter.

Do I have to prove he was legally drunk?

Not necessarily. Gross negligence can be shown through his behavior and choices, though test results help.

Authority: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 41 · Tex. Penal Code ch. 49 · EPPD DWI data to City Council (KFOX14, July 2026) · TxDOT: DUI fatalities by county, 2024