About Dram Shop Liability Claims
Can a bar or restaurant be sued for over-serving a drunk driver?
Known as “dram shop” cases, you can sue bars, restaurants, or other businesses that serve alcohol for over-serving drunk drivers.
If an establishment does that, they can be held financially responsible for their part in causing an injury or death. Please note a gas station might even have liability for selling packaged beer to a drunk driver.
These cases can be difficult to prove though.
That’s because it’s hard for servers/bartenders to know the blood alcohol content (BAC) of someone at their bar/establishment. For some people, it’s easy to tell they’re heavily intoxicated. For others, it’s more difficult. Some of that will depend on the legally intoxicated motorist’s tolerance.
In Texas, “dram shop” liability / bar liability can be established if a bar or restaurant serves alcohol to someone who is obviously intoxicated, and that person subsequently causes injuries or death to a third-party.
How do you establish a driver was “obviously intoxicated” while he was at a bar or restaurant?
Witness testimony is very important in establishing the driver was obviously intoxicated. Bar and restaurant employees are unlikely to be helpful so other customers are usually the best source of this information. In addition, the driver’s blood alcohol content in conjunction with the timing of when he or she left the bar or restaurant is also of critical importance. Please note these cases can be very challenging if the drunk driver visited multiple establishments leading up to the wreck.
It is critically important to send a demand to preserve evidence to any bars or restaurants the drunk driver visited as quickly as possible. Our standard demand to preserve evidence includes instructions to maintain all customer receipts, POS system data, video surveillance footage, employee schedules, etc. We also routinely request police officer body worn camera footage to investigate if the motorist admitted to coming from a certain location to the investigating officer or field sobriety officer.
The problem is that many times where the intoxicated motorist was coming from is not immediately known. Further complicating matters is the fact that many intoxicated motorists charged with driving while intoxicated exercise their right to not provide information that could incriminate them in a pending criminal case.
Our firm routinely assists clients in filing complaints with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) when warranted. We usually do this when we learn a motorist was at least double the legal limit since a lower BAC makes it very challenging to suggest the drunk driver was “obviously” intoxicated. TABC often performs an independent investigation that can yield useful evidence in a civil case against the bar or restaurant. We have worked alongside TABC agents in the past to assist them in any way we can with their investigation.
If you were harmed by someone who was overserved contact our Dallas dram shop lawyers today for a free consultation.
Can people who get over-served and hurt themselves recover compensation?
Sounds kind of ridiculous at first that you could be drunk, hit a tree, and sue the bar that served you for your injuries, doesn’t it?
Well, Texas law looks at it like this:
- Places that sell alcohol have a financial interest in selling as much alcohol as they can. From society’s perspective, we want to have safe roads. If alcohol sellers have financial responsibility for injuries caused by overserving patrons, they have financial incentive to keep our roads safe, like society wants.
- Businesses that sell alcohol are our last line of defense against drunk driving. We want to incentivize them to take the right action and not sell to obviously intoxicated individuals to keep our roads safe.
With all that said, the vast majority of “Dram Shop” cases that are pursued involve an innocent third-party injured by a drunk driver. Look below, however, for one example where a bar would likely be responsible for injuries a driver caused to herself:
Let’s say an underage woman goes to a bar. She knows the bartender, and he knows she’s underage. He serves her anyway. And let’s assume he serves her 5 potent drinks – martinis. The woman slurs her words, falls off the bar stool, and gets angry and disruptive with the bartender and other patrons.
The bartender, who’s also been drinking himself (against Texas law), gives her several more shots before she leaves. As she drives away, she enters the road going the wrong way, causing a head-on collision with another vehicle and is catastrophically injured.
The bartender in this example knew the underage driver was obviously intoxicated yet served her more alcohol anyway. Most likely, her family can recover compensation for her injuries.
Filing a lawsuit against the bar, in this case, is both legal and fair. If you are in a similar situation, contact our Dallas dram shop lawyers today for a free consultation.
Contact our dram shop liquor liability attorneys in Dallas, Plano, Frisco, or Fort Worth now. We want to discuss the specifics of your claim. Find out how our Dallas personal injury law firm, with over 40 years of experience, can help!
When you’re injured by an intoxicated motorist, our skilled Dallas attorneys fight tenaciously to ensure the maximum available settlement while offering you the lowest contingency fee. We will hold the drunk driver accountable and investigate whether a bar, restaurant, or other establishment might also have liability for overserving the intoxicated motorist under a “
