Bartenders are criminally charged after drunk patron allegedly causes fatal car accident (money, state)
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But I do think the bar should have some responsibility to ensure that obviously drunk customers leaving the premises have a safe ride home.
It's one thing for a store to sell alcohol to a customer, who later gets drunk and causes death, and another matter entirely if someone gets drunk or is drunk in a bar and the establishment does nothing.
A ridiculous concept......how does anyone judge state of inebriation? perhaps have a breath activated door at the exit that let's you out if you blow .07 or less.........LOL that should put a damper on drinkers for sure.........
This was a major problem when I lived in Iowa. People would be falling down drunk and might not even be cut off. That was jut part of the culture there. Here in Tennessee, you'd get cut off and a PI for the same behavior.
The key, I think, is whether an employee knowingly sold alcohol to someone who was obviously over the legal limit.
Some people can handle their liquor fairly well -- but if someone buys and consumes, for example, three drinks for himself or herself in under an hour from the same waiter or bartender . . . I think that is a criminal action and should be treated as such.
Three drinks in an hour? You've got to be kidding!
That's the 3rd I've heard of in the Houston area. Expect to see more.
Like phma said, dram shop laws have been around forever. Houston just did not enforce them.
Now that we are the drunk driving capitol of the USA, maybe they will get serious. It's hard to be so drunk you don't know you are entering the wrong side of the freeway.
It's somewhat easier if you're from another country, weren't trained and aren't licensed to drive in this country, and can't read English. And that probably describes most wrong-way drivers in Texas.
This was a major problem when I lived in Iowa. People would be falling down drunk and might not even be cut off. That was jut part of the culture there. Here in Tennessee, you'd get cut off and a PI for the same behavior.
The key, I think, is whether an employee knowingly sold alcohol to someone who was obviously over the legal limit.
Some people can handle their liquor fairly well -- but if someone buys and consumes, for example, three drinks for himself or herself in under an hour from the same waiter or bartender -- of if someone sells alcohol to someone who is slurring words and cannot walk in a straight line (and does not have a doctor's note stating that the condition is due to a physical ailment of some kind), I think that is a criminal action and should be treated as such.
Whenever I go out with friends, we each average 3 or 4 drinks an hour, and we've never been cut off. That said, we do tend towards beer and girly cocktails, rather than chugging down shots of vodka.
Last edited by ohhwanderlust; 09-20-2018 at 10:41 AM..
Three drinks in an hour? You've got to be kidding!
I don't know if you are saying that's a lot of a little, but I drink about one glass of wine per hour, no matter where I am, and I never have more than two glasses total in an evening, or I "feel" it.
Anyway, according to the scale below, if a 120-pound woman drinks three drinks in one hour, her B.A.L. would be 10.23, which is over the legal limit in most states, I think. However, for a 230 pound man, that would amount to a B.A.L. of only 0.0384.
Bloody effing hell, if we're all to be each other's mommies, we should really just go ahead and implement universal healthcare. We don't get to play the "personal responsibility" and "individualism" card if we have insane laws like these.
Bloody effing hell, if we're all to be each other's mommies, we should really just go ahead and implement universal healthcare. We don't get to play the "personal responsibility" and "individualism" card if we have insane laws like these.
Surprisingly, people who live in these states do just fine. As do bars and restaurants. I LIKE it that people watch out for each other, and make sure that their inebriated friends don’t drive drunk. I LIKE it that people who intend to drink think beforehand about whether they should drive themselves when they go out bar hopping.
I enjoy alcohol, and have spent many an enjoyable evening drinking in public. But in a previous life, I was an ICU nurse, and IMO, DUI penalties should be more draconian - as in first time, lose your license for several years, second time lose your license forever, third time mandatory jail for at least a year. And of course, if you harm someone, even greater penalties.
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