How far should liability extend to third parties in the event that drunk driving results in injury to another person or persons?
That question is of course central when a person who is noticeably drunk is served or sold alcohol at a restaurant or bar and then causes injury to another person from driving under the influence. Most states, including Georgia, have a dram shop act that extends liability in certain instances to owners, agents and employees of establishments where alcohol is served on the premises.
Earlier this month, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that convenience store retailers can also be sued if they sell alcohol to an intoxicated customer who then drives and kills or injures others.
The case the Court was considering involved a Clinch County convenience store. An already intoxicated customer purchased beer there and subsequently killed himself and five other people while driving.
The president of the state's Association of Convenience Stores, Jim Tudor, said that convenience store owners have long been careful around intoxicated customers and wary of potential liability, anyway, even before the Court's ruling.
"We have always assumed, and trained accordingly," said Tudor, "that we may have a potential liability if we sell to someone who is noticeably intoxicated."
Georgia's dram shop law extends beyond retailers, making potentially liable "anyone who sells, furnishes or serves alcohol to ... a noticeably intoxicated person" who then drives and causes injury or damage.
Related Resource: GPB, "Dram Shop Ruling Confirms Law" July 6, 2011
