One drink too many can change your life forever. The hospital bills pile up, work becomes impossible, and the pain lingers long after the crash. But proving the other driver was drunk can mean the difference between a lowball settlement and the justice you deserve.

Hurt by a drunk driver? BAC doesn’t tell the whole story. Our Michigan car accident lawyers gather the crucial evidence that builds a stronger case and helps you pursue full compensation.

Start at the Scene: Eyewitness Red Flags

Right after the crash, bystanders, passengers, and responding officers may observe classic signs of intoxication: slurred speech, glassy or bloodshot eyes, an alcohol odor, stumbling, delayed reactions, or admission of drinking.

Get the names and contact information of anyone who witnessed these behaviors. Photographs or short videos capturing unsteady movements can also help.

We track down and interview witnesses so you don’t have to.

Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs)

Police often administer standardized FSTs (Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk-and-Turn, One-Leg Stand). While not flawless, properly documented FSTs can show divided-attention failures consistent with impairment. These test results can strengthen your claim even if chemical testing is delayed or unavailable.

Your attorney can obtain body-cam footage, dash-cam video, and the officer’s training/certification records to challenge or validate how the tests were done.

Let our team secure the body-cam footage and training records before they’re hard to get.

Breath, Blood, and Urine Testing

Chemical tests provide objective BAC evidence. Breath tests must follow maintenance and calibration protocols; blood draws require chain-of-custody and lab compliance.

Alcohol-related crashes remain a danger on Michigan roads. In 2023, there were 8,817 alcohol-involved crashes and 297 fatalities statewide.

Under Michigan law, a driver is per se intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher, 0.04% for commercial drivers, and 0.02% for drivers under 21.

This means prosecutors don’t have to prove obvious signs of impairment like slurred speech or stumbling if a chemical test shows the driver was above the legal limit. The BAC number alone is enough to establish intoxication under the law.

Even when a test is missing or delayed, Michigan law allows proof of impairment through other evidence (driving behavior, physical signs, admissions).

We preserve lab data and calibration logs to ensure testing errors don’t undermine your case.

Video Tells the Story: Traffic, Business, and Dashcams

The clock starts ticking the moment the crash happens, surveillance footage can be deleted in days, receipts discarded, and memories fade. Acting quickly can make the difference between a weak case and a winning one.

Footage from nearby traffic cameras, business surveillance, home doorbells, or your dashcam can show weaving, drifting across lanes, late braking, or running lights minutes before impact.

We will send urgent preservation notices and pull a video before it disappears.

Digital Paper Trails: Bar Tabs, Credit Cards, and Bank Statements

Purchases at bars, restaurants, or liquor stores shortly before the crash can corroborate drinking. Your attorney can request credit-card statements, itemized receipts, and point of sale (POS) records showing location, time stamps, and quantities through subpoenas.

Combined with witness and video evidence, these records create a clear, detailed timeline of the driver’s intoxication.

We subpoena payment records to prove where and how much the at-fault driver drank.

Texts, Social Posts, and Location Data

Text messages bragging about shots, a selfie at the bar, or geotagged posts can be persuasive. Attorneys can obtain phone records, content, and metadata; location data may place the driver at a specific establishment. Even deleted content can sometimes be recovered from recipients or platforms.

Our investigators preserve messages and metadata that others miss.

Admissions and Prior Conduct

Statements like “I only had a few” or “I shouldn’t have driven” are admissions. If the driver was coming from a known drinking event (e.g., happy hour, tailgate), witness lists and sign-in sheets help.

Prior operating while intoxicated (OWI) history may become relevant (subject to evidentiary rules). Your lawyer will evaluate what’s admissible and persuasive to a Michigan jury.

We build narratives that jurors trust.

Why a Lawyer Changes the Outcome

Proving intoxication is evidence-heavy and time-sensitive. The right legal team will:

  • Move fast with spoliation letters to preserve video and POS data
  • Demand police reports, FST footage, calibration logs, and lab results
  • Subpoena bars, rideshare, bank, and cellular providers
  • Work with toxicologists to relate BAC, timing, and impairment to the crash
  • Value your claim for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering

Put Fieger Law to work. We uncover every piece of proof to maximize your recovery.

Turn Proof Into the Compensation You Deserve

When a drunk driver hurts you, the law and the facts are on your side. A high BAC result is powerful but rarely the whole story. Backing it up with eyewitness accounts, video footage, bar receipts, digital records, and other evidence builds a rock-solid case that’s harder for insurers to dispute and can increase the compensation you recover.

At Fieger Law, we’ve spent decades taking on powerful insurance companies, corporations, and defendants and winning record-breaking results. Our team has secured some of the largest verdicts in U.S. history, proving that no opponent is too big when justice is on the line.

Contact Fieger Law today for a free case review. We can prove intoxication and build a comprehensive case that gets results.