Dram Shop Liability Is Not Just About DUI

Earlier this month, an opinion piece in the Post and Courier news website lauded the new law that seems likely to pass, one which will make it easier for criminal courts to convict drunk drivers of DUI and which clarify what counts as an injury serious enough that, if a drunk driver causes such an injury, enhanced penalties apply for the DUI resulting in serious bodily injury conviction. Meanwhile, the authors on the Post and Courier editorial staff point out that the new law addresses only one of the many dangers of excessive drinking. They are not talking about the chronic illnesses that can result from long years of heavy drinking, such as cardiovascular disease and liver dysfunction, even though this is certainly a public health issue of its own. Rather, they call on lawmakers to address preventable accidents where alcohol was a contributing factor but where motor vehicles were not involved. The variety of mishaps that can occur when people drink too much alcohol and the issues of who is responsible for preventing them and what they should do toward this end are too complicated to be covered by one law, but the law is clear that people who get injured in preventable accidents, including but not limited to those involving alcohol, motor vehicles or both, have the right to seek compensation from the responsible parties. Sometimes this includes dram shop liability claims against an establishment that irresponsibly continued to serve alcohol to someone who was already drunk, resulting in an accident where one or more people got injured. If you believe that the bar that went too far in serving alcohol to a drunk person, who may or may not have been you, is legally responsible for the accident that caused your injuries, contact a Columbia premises liability lawyer.

Not All Alcohol-Related Accidents Involve Motor Vehicles

“Dram shop liability” is an old-fashioned name for a problem that continues until today. Back when horse-drawn carriages were a more common sight than automobiles, establishments that sold alcohol were known as dram shops; a dram is a unit of measurement based on which these establishments would base their drink prices. The legal doctrine of dram shop liability states that, when someone gets drunk at a bar and then causes an accident that injures the drinker or someone else, the injured people can sue the bar based on premises liability, a legal concept which means that places of business have a duty not to endanger their customers. When a customer sues after slipping on a wet floor in a supermarket and when a bar patron drives drunk after leaving the bar and crashes his car, injuring himself or someone else, lawsuits about both accidents rely on the same law. You can cite dram shop liability if a bar serves you too much alcohol and does not ensure that you get home safely, whether your injuries stem from a traffic collision or an accidental fall.

Let Us Help You Today

The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you get justice after an alcohol-related accident.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Source:

postandcourier.com/opinion/editorials/sc-preventable-alcohol-deaths-dui/article_d4769637-0252-47e1-a8bc-2efd5e70717a.html