Super Bowl Sunday: One of the Deadliest Nights for Drunk Driving

Snacks, friends, and a close game — Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest party nights of the year. It's also one of the most dangerous nights to be on a Michigan road. If a drunk driver hurt you, here's exactly how you get made whole.

Every February, millions of people spend hours drinking during the big game and then climb behind the wheel. The result is grimly predictable: the hours after the final whistle are consistently among the deadliest of the year for impaired-driving crashes nationwide. In Michigan, where a cold, dark February night can already make the roads treacherous, adding alcohol to the mix turns a fun evening into a tragedy. If you were the one hit — while driving home, stopped at a light, or walking to your car — you have more options than you probably realize.

Why Super Bowl Sunday Is So Dangerous

The Super Bowl is a marathon, not a sprint. People drink steadily from early afternoon kickoff parties through overtime, often losing track of how much they've had. By the time the game ends, a lot of drivers are far more impaired than they feel. Add in late-night fatigue, winter road conditions, and the fact that many of these drivers took roads they think they "know well," and you get a perfect storm. Crashes on this night tend to happen close to home, at higher speeds, and with drivers who never even hit the brakes.

Two Separate Claims: PIP Benefits and a Third-Party Case

Michigan is a no-fault state, and that word confuses a lot of injured people. It does not mean you can't hold a drunk driver accountable. It means you actually have two separate avenues, and a drunk-driving victim usually pursues both.

1. No-Fault PIP Benefits

Regardless of who caused the crash, your own auto insurance (or, in some situations, the at-fault driver's insurer or the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan) pays your Personal Injury Protection, or PIP, benefits. These cover:

• Medical bills — ER visits, surgery, hospital stays, and ongoing treatment, subject to the coverage level you chose under Michigan's 2019 no-fault reforms
• Wage loss for up to three years if your injuries keep you off work
• Replacement services — help with household tasks you can no longer do
• Attendant care and mileage to medical appointments

PIP benefits are supposed to be paid promptly no matter who was drunk. If your insurer drags its feet or denies a legitimate claim, that's its own fight — and one worth having.

2. A Third-Party Claim Against the Drunk Driver

Because the crash was caused by someone breaking the law, you can also file a third-party liability claim against the impaired driver for the damages no-fault doesn't cover — most importantly, pain and suffering and other non-economic losses. To bring this claim, Michigan's MCL 500.3135 requires that you cleared the "serious impairment of body function" threshold: an objectively manifested impairment of an important body function that affects your general ability to lead your normal life. Serious injuries from a drunk-driving wreck — fractures, brain injuries, spinal damage — typically qualify.

Here's a piece that matters on Super Bowl Sunday specifically: because the driver was intoxicated, Michigan law may also open the door to exemplary or enhanced damages, and a drunk driver's conduct plays powerfully in front of an adjuster or a jury. Intoxication isn't just background — it's a spotlight on the other side's recklessness.

Dram Shop Liability: When the Bar or Host Is Also Responsible

Sometimes the drunk driver isn't the only one at fault. Under Michigan's Dram Shop Act (MCL 436.1801), a bar, restaurant, or other licensed establishment that serves alcohol to a "visibly intoxicated person" can be held liable if that person then causes a crash. On a night when sports bars are packed and servers are slammed, over-service is common.

Dram shop claims have strict rules you cannot afford to miss:

• You must give written notice to the licensed establishment within a short window (generally 120 days) of retaining an attorney — miss it and the claim can be lost.
• You typically must name the allegedly intoxicated person in the lawsuit.
• Evidence disappears fast — receipts, surveillance video, and server memories don't last.

Michigan generally does not impose the same liability on ordinary social hosts who serve adults at a private party, but there is an important exception: furnishing alcohol to a minor. A Super Bowl party where an adult supplied alcohol to someone under 21 who then caused a crash can create liability. These distinctions are technical — which is exactly why the source of the alcohol needs to be investigated immediately.

What About Rideshare?

Uber and Lyft market themselves hard around the Super Bowl, and using one is the smart, responsible choice. But rideshare adds its own wrinkles if you're hurt as a passenger or as another driver hit by a rideshare vehicle. Coverage depends on whether the app was on and whether the driver was en route to or carrying a passenger, and large commercial policies may apply. If a rideshare was involved in your crash in any way, don't let the companies point fingers at each other — the layers of insurance are navigable with the right help.

What to Do If a Drunk Driver Hits You

1. Call 911 immediately. Insist that police respond and document suspected intoxication — a DUI arrest is powerful evidence in your civil case.
2. Get medical care that night. Adrenaline masks injuries; a full evaluation protects both your health and your claim.
3. Photograph everything — vehicles, positions, road conditions, and any visible signs of the other driver's condition.
4. Get names and numbers of witnesses and note which bar, party, or venue the driver came from.
5. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurer before speaking with a lawyer.
6. Preserve the dram shop trail. If the driver was drinking at a bar, note the name and time — the 120-day notice clock can start running fast.
7. Call an attorney quickly. Michigan's three-year statute of limitations applies to the injury claim, but dram shop notice and evidence preservation are far more urgent.

Bottom Line

A drunk driver made a choice, and you're the one paying for it. Michigan law gives you real leverage: no-fault PIP benefits to cover your bills and wages, a third-party claim for your pain and suffering, and — where a bar over-served or an adult supplied a minor — a dram shop claim against the deeper pocket that helped put that driver on the road. The sooner you act, the more of that leverage you keep. If a drunk driver hurt you this Super Bowl Sunday, let us take the fight off your plate.

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