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Social host liability

The article looks at the growing risk of being sued as a social host if one of your guests is involved in an accident.

Author: David Mayer

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Well, it's that time of year again. We've got Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November and we've no sooner recovered from that when Christmas is upon us. And for those still alive, there's a further opportunity to celebrate come New Year. Indeed, statistics show we drink more over the next few weeks than at any other time during during the year. Sure, there are cookouts when a few friends come around and drink some beer, but this is the season of good cheer and, often, excessive alcohol consumption. So welcome to the developing world of social host liability. Let's suppose it's obvious one of your party guests is seriously intoxicated, but you continue to supply more alcohol and fail to stop this person attempting to drive home. Once on the highway, this driver is involved in a traffic accident and seriously injures other people.

Under the law of negligence, you are liable if it's foreseeable a drunk may drive and injure a third party. This area of liability started off under the Dram Shop Acts that made bartenders liable if drunken customers injured people on the way home. Courts have extended the liability from commercial sellers to social hosts who give the alcohol away. Either way, the driver is allowed to leave and presents a high risk to the general public. Let's start off in New Jersey where a social host served a guest thirteen drinks in a hour and allowed him to drive away. Minutes later, he was involved in a head-on collision. The host was held liable. In 1986, the New Jersey lawmakers reduced the liability a little. If the blood-alcohol content is below .15, the host is exempted from liability.

The experience in New Jersey represents a general pattern of the courts trying to extend the usual principles of negligence to social hosts and the lawmakers fighting back, as in California, Iowa, Minnesota and Oregon. But the common law continues to represent a general threat to social hosts who knowingly allow their guests to continue drinking and then drive away.

For these purposes, we need to reinforce the message that this liability is not covered under either your full-price or cheap car insurance policies. In fact, you need to look very carefully at your homeowners policy to see whether the third party liability provisions cover this type of situation. The message therefore could not be clearer. Whether this is "festive season" drinking or just a general party, you need to set limits on the amount of alcohol you serve to your guests. If you can see someone is getting drunk, you should both stop serving more and take away the keys. Allow time for people to sober up before you let them leave. This may mean giving them food or offering free-flow black coffee. If there's the slightest doubt in your mind, you should call a cab to take them home. Not only may you be saving lives, you may also be avoiding a big legal claim against you and your family. Remember, if your guest only has cheap car insurance, you will be in the firing line when the claim is big. Protect yourself!

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Social host liability