My son was injured in a car crash. His buddy was driving after they had been partying at a local bar. My son had too much to drink so he had his buddy drive them home. They never made it, but did have a crash.
My wife and I now have to care for our son because he received brain damage in the crash. We want to file a lawsuit against his buddy that was drinking and driving and we want to sue the bar where they got drunk. Is this something we can do?
Robert
Robert you may sue both the driver and the bar in most jurisdictions, you failed to say where this happened. When a driver is convicted of committing a crime the door is still open in the civil court. You can sue the driver for the injuries to your son for pain and suffering as well as money for healthcare and for someone to take care of him since he is unable to care for himself. Remember O.J. Simpson was acquitted at his murder trial but found guilty in the civil trial and lost all his money and property to the Goldstein family.
Most states have dram shop laws that hold bars and restaurants that serve alcohol liable when they serve their patrons too much alcohol and the patron injures a third party after they leave the bar or restaurant. Dram shop laws are named after the bars/establishments during the 1700’s in England that sold gin by the spoonful or dram. Dram shop laws allow third party victims of drunk driving accidents to sue bars and restaurants responsive for the death, injury or other damages caused by the drunk customer. This is where you sue the bar or restaurant.
Social host liability laws are similar to dram shop laws but hold the hosts of private functions liable for death or injuries caused by their negligence in providing alcohol and allowing or preventing a guest from driving away. This is where you or the injured person sue the host of the party, which served the driver too much alcohol, like a New Year’s Eve Party.
So how do you go about suing a bar or restaurant for serving too much alcohol? Not all dram shop laws are the same, although many states have similar elements of the dram shop law. The most common elements the plaintiff must prove in court are; the driver bought alcohol in the establishment, prove the plaintiff was injured, prove the proximate cause between the intoxication and the alcohol and prove intoxication was at least one cause of the third-party damages. 42 states and D.C. have dram shop laws but states without dram shop laws include: DE, KS, LA, MD, NE, NV, SD and VA.
One test just about every jurisdiction includes is the “obvious intoxication test” where the alcohol seller knew or should have known the patron was so intoxicated that any more alcohol would cause danger to the patron or others.
Proving the bar was at fault is not necessarily easy. Issues such as how do bartenders know whether a customer had been drinking or was intoxicated before entering the bar, does the bartender know the patron drove a car to the bar and is planning on driving after leaving the bar, does the patron have a low tolerance for alcohol or even if the patron had just eaten or was drinking on an empty stomach. Think about a patron buying rounds for the table of friends and everyone is drinking the same beer, how is the bartender to know how much the patron drank or how much he purchased for others? What about a bar with more than one bartender working at the time, how difficult will it be to know exactly how many drinks a patron had unless he ordered them all from the same bartender. Did the patron pay by cash or credit card?
Some states have attempted to address the problems with the ‘knew or should have known’ test. Missouri recently added the requirement the alcohol seller determine the patron demonstrates “significantly uncoordinated physical action or significant physical dysfunction” and still continues to serve the patron in order to be found guilty of the dram shop laws.
Dram shop laws allow injured third-parties to sue the persons and or business that served too much alcohol to a guest or patron and then did not take measures to ensure the guest or patron did not injure anyone after they left the party or business. You see the efforts at New Year’s celebration where bars and cab companies offer free rides home to anyone who has had too much to drink as a way to cut down on DUIs and alcohol related accidents. You see these efforts by the servers of alcohol to ensure everyone gets home safely because of drams shop laws.