Hit by a drunk driver in El Paso?

El Paso police reported 575 alcohol-related crashes in 2023, 531 in 2024, 558 in 2025 and 225 in just the first four months of 2026, and DWI arrests have climbed sharply. 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.

A claim against a drunk driver covers medical bills, lost wages and earning capacity, pain, mental anguish, physical impairment and disfigurement. Because many drunk drivers carry only minimum coverage, or none, a strong case looks at every source of payment.

Your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage often pays when the driver's insurance runs out. Texas insurers must offer it, and you have it unless you rejected it in writing. Your PIP coverage pays medical bills and lost wages quickly.

Bars, restaurants and clubs can be responsible under Texas dram shop law if they served the driver when he was obviously intoxicated and a clear danger. Adults 21 or older who knowingly provide alcohol to minors under 18 can also be liable. Bars in New Mexico follow New Mexico law, and bars in Juárez are generally out of practical reach.

Punitive (exemplary) damages are often available, because drinking and driving can be gross negligence. Texas normally caps them, but the cap doesn't apply when the crash amounts to intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter.

The criminal case is separate. The State prosecutes the driver; your claim is about compensation, and it shouldn't wait for the criminal case. A conviction can help prove fault. The Texas Crime Victims' Compensation program may also help with medical bills, counseling, lost wages and funeral costs.

An employer can be responsible if the driver was working, and a vehicle owner who lent the car to a driver known to be dangerous can be too.

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.

Sources: EPPD DWI data to City Council (KFOX14, July 2026) · TxDOT: DUI fatalities by county, 2024 · Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 2.02 · Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 41 · Tex. Penal Code ch. 49 · Tex. Ins. Code § 1952.101 (UM/UIM) · Texas Crime Victims' Compensation (Attorney General)

Built for drunk-driving cases

• We look past the minimum policy. Bars, employers, owners, your own coverage and punitive damages.
• We handle the insurers and agencies. We handle communications with them for you, from the first call.
• We move fast on evidence. Video, radio, data and witnesses, before they are gone.
• We find every source of payment. Drivers, owners, companies, government claims and your own coverage.
• Your whole case in Spanish. Jimmy speaks Spanish, and you can talk with him directly.
• We work the way you need. By phone, text, email and video call, and in person when needed, just like we do in Houston.
• No fee unless we win. The consultation is free, and there is nothing to pay up front.

All of El Paso, and all of Texas

We help people across El Paso County: the Westside, Downtown, Central, the Eastside and Far East, the Northeast, the Lower Valley and Mission Valley, Socorro, Horizon City, San Elizario, Clint, Fabens, Canutillo and Anthony, and families in Juárez and southern New Mexico.