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Sunday, August 04, 2013

Maryland Case Shows Bars Should Be Liable For Drunk Patrons

The staff at Dogfish Head Alehouse in Gaithersburg knew the customer’s taste in beer so well they identified him on his tab as “Mike Corona Guy” on that fatal night in August 2008.

They also knew something was wrong when Michael D. Eaton downed 17 bottles of the Mexican brew, plus a shot of vodka, in about five hours. It was too much.

Eaton’s waitress cut him off about 10 p.m., when he turned argumentative. A manager offered to call him a taxi.

Sadly, Eaton declined the cab. And no one from the alehouse insisted or tried to stop him.

Eaton drove off in what he later called a drunken blackout. Shortly afterward, while speeding, he rear-ended another car on I-270.

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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bars should not be liable.

Anonymous said...

Instead of making the vendor liable, we need to shield the vendor from prosecution for calling police or otherwise interfering with the drunk's civil rights.

Anonymous said...

People should be held responsible for their own behaviour!

Nanny-state rules like these will end up with us having a patron be required to turn his keys in when he arrives and blow a test to get them back when he leaves...with a cop standing there to enforce.

BS on that....we don't sue the bullet manufacturer or the booze distiller or the gasoline company.....

Anonymous said...

No bar liability,but an automatic death penalty for whoever leaves a bar intoxicated and kills someone on the road.Why not? A car is as much or more of a weapon than a gun.

Anonymous said...

What ever happened to personal responsibility? This is just stupid.

It's like convicting Gander Mountain for selling a shotgun to a guy who flips out and kills someone, because they "should have known".

Ludicrous.

Anonymous said...

if he is drunk enough to cut him off, then they are liable that he doesn't kill someone getting home. I disagree, since we all know what stellar judgment we have after 17 beers. they knew he was too drunk to drive and let him. if they were liable they would have cut him off sooner. right now they have no reason but to drunk them up and shove them out the door.

Anonymous said...

They should not be held liable, but they need to say "enough" when needed, and not just keep draining a drunks wallet, or purse.

Anyone who drives while intoxicated should be tortured, then executed.

Anonymous said...

I don't believe the bar should be liable. What kind of line are they supposed to draw? If they are super busy like some bars get, are they supposed to monitor everyone's behavior? You are putting too much responsibility on the bartender and not enough on the person liable.

Anonymous said...

oh hell, let's just let Obama run the bars too.

Anonymous said...

1:08 Dont give them any ideas!!!

Anonymous said...

Right! Take his wallet and keys away from him: then get hit with "grand theft, Assault, false imprisonment, car theft" and whatever the cops can add on like "resisting arrest, interfering with police, frivolous reports to police, possession of a deadly weapon (pocket knife) and on and on."

Anonymous said...

A drunk will find a way to get booze. If the drunk is under age, broke or cut off then the drunk gets someone else to buy it. Amazing how they are able to find a drink even to the point of loosing everything sometimes their own life on the other hand unable to handle themselves. We cannot control it. Only the drunk can.

Anonymous said...

1:10 -Don't forget violating his civil rights and racism and hate crimes, if they are not both of the same exact ethnic background.