Personal Injury Law

Washington State Restores $14 Million DUI Award

By Kirk Bernard, Esq.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court in Washington State unanimously voted to reinstate a $14 million award to a family who sued a tavern and a bartender after one of the bar's customers drove away from the establishment and crashed into their vehicle. Their 7-year-old-son is now a paraplegic due to the tragic collision.

According to information from an Associated Press article, the law states that bartenders who serve visibly intoxicated customers are liable for damages to potential victims. At question was the type of evidence needed to prove "negligent over-service". Most states have so-called "dram shop" laws that can make taverns or bartenders ? and in some states, even social hosts ? liable for damages if they serve intoxicated customers who leave the premises and harm themselves or others.

It was noted by Washington State?s justices that a forensic consultant found that the bar patron likely drank the equivalent of either 21 12-ounce beers or 30 ounces of 80-proof alcohol, and probably had a blood alcohol content of 0.32 at the time of the collision. The legal blood alcohol limit in Washington State is 0.08.

The man was drinking at the Bellingham Moose Lodge, about 90 miles north of Seattle, just before the April 2000 auto accident in Washington. His girlfriend was the bartender at the lodge and served him the night of the accident.

Full post as published by Seattle Injury Blog on July 20, 2009 (boomark / email).