The dram shop laws make negligent alcohol vendors responsible for the actions of their clients. For example, if you are hurt in a car accident caused by an intoxicated driver, you can get the bar that served the driver alcohol to pay for your damages if you can prove that it was negligent. Here are four things you can use to prove a bar's negligence:
Not Asking for Proof of Age
Everybody is prohibited from selling alcohol to a minor. The only way an alcohol vendor can know whether a person is over the legal drinking age is to ask for proof of age, which is usually provided in the form of a government-issued ID such as a driving license. Therefore, if the bartender did not do this, then you can use the omission as proof that the bar is negligent in its sale of alcohol.
Serving a Person After Closing Time
Bars have designated closing times to reduce incidences of violence, neighborhood noise, and traffic accidents. Therefore, a bar that continues to sell alcohol beyond the official closing time is clearly negligent in its operations. For example, some bars have the habit of closing their front doors at closing time, but then continuing to sell alcohol through the back door or to patrons who were already inside.
Serving Alcohol to a Visibly Intoxicated Person
Alcohol vendors are also legally obligated to stop serving alcohol to people who are visibly obligated. Continuing to sell alcohol to such a person may make them intoxicated to the point that they become a danger to themselves or the public. For example, an extremely intoxicated person may cause an accident by staggering onto the path of an oncoming car. Therefore, if the bar sold alcohol to a patron who was staggering, slurring their speech, and spilling their drinks, then that action may also be used to show its negligence.
Serving Too Much Alcohol to an Individual
Lastly, you should also know that bars are supposed to look out for their customers and prevent them from getting too intoxicated. One way in which bars do this is by not serving individuals with large volumes of alcohol that would obviously make them too intoxicated. Therefore, a bar shows its negligence by selling a dozen bottles of beer to an individual.
Note that with legal issues, what matters is what you can prove, and not what you think is true. A personal injury lawyer can help you prove why a bar is negligent and should pay for your injuries. Learn more by contacting services like Janet P. Welton, P.A.
Share27 February 2017
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