European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 25, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Liquor liability continued from Page 13 rant is negotiating with another company for a full policy that will Cost for coverage he says is less Complete than what he we have a banquet Hart complaining about the difficulty of keeping tabs on they May get a drink and take it Back to a table for a wife or i would like to see some responsibility Back on the the a bar in Hast been tapped since its coverage expired in owner Stephen Martin said he closed the Keg rather than risk his lifes earnings on one errant turn of the wheel by a Tipsy Springfield attorney Robert whose client was beaten by a Man who allegedly got drunk at the is suing the bar for i think the liquor Industry is a convenient Santa Niello nobody has a great love of the Wisconsin was the first state with a dram shop an 1849 statute said tavern owners had to Post to obtain liquor licenses and must pay All dam Ages that a Community or person May sustain by reason of such traffic in spirituous liquors support All Paup widows and pay the expenses of All civil and criminal prosecutions made growing out of or justly attributable to such the first time a court found liability without using a specific Law came in 1959 in new according to the insurance information new Jersey set a precedent again in 1984 when the states supreme court ruled a Host could be held liable for injuries in a motor vehicle Accident caused by a guest served at the the state appeals court expanded the High courts ruling last saying businesses could be held liable for accidents involving people who become intoxicated at office residents of Indiana who buy drinks for intoxicated friends became liable in april under a decision by the state court of the court a suit brought by a joggers widow against a Lafayette a Drunken Driver and a Friend who bought the the rash of lawsuits has been encouraged by courts reacting to pressures from victims rights groups such As mothers against drunk according to Charles a counsel to the Massachusetts joint legislative insurance i think people Are fed up with Drunken he the bars and restaurants provide some deep pockets for families of victims to get some Restito they can provide More restitution than the typical individual Drivers policy in an Effort to protect those who sell liquor by the the Massachusetts legislature has been consid ering a Bill that would relax some liabilities and create a two year insurance underwriting Minnesota set up a similar underwriting authority earlier this year after some bars and liquor stores were forced to mtg that make us of who close when they could not get which state Law re Massachusetts does not require but opposition from Madd and similar groups forced Massachusetts lawmakers to drop provisions to limit an establishments liability to million per Accident and impose a 90day statute of the revised Bill has no Caps on liability awards except for hospitals and and no time limits on when lawsuits must be the Bill would also set up a state underwriting authority that would either underwrite liquor liability policies itself for two years or Force a few companies to do the Massachusetts lawmakers took several Steps last year that they Hope will decrease Drunken driving and related lawsuits they banned Happy hours in passed legislation to raise the minimum drinking age from 20 to effective june and set up a killer bar the registry is a list of establishments where More than 12 motorists arrested and convicted of Drunken driving claim they drank their last other states offer insurance discounts to Tav erns that Send their bartenders to courses that teach them How to recognize Tipsy patrons and keep them off the South Dakota has acted against the trend toward wider despite waging a vigorous Campaign against Drunken Bill Janklow last Winter signed a Bill that exempted bars and restaurants from liability joining 14 other some which ran liquor were hav ing difficulty acquiring said James Fry of the state department of plus there was the general pinning the blame for alcohol related accidents drinks in a two hour period wine 6 ounces 86 proof liquor 1 Viz ounces Beer 12 ounces weight 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 Del not 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 i careful driving driving impaired do not drive la to la la up alcohol concentration source National Highway traffic Saffy administration by Lawrence Kilman associated press moral argument that individual Drivers were supposed i o be responsible for their own not South Dakotas Bill overturned a state supreme c ourt decision in 1982 that held licensees Fry said that lifter the court everybody went out running for dram shop which became steadily More expensive and underwriters were hard to find and became very that prompted the bar owners and municipalities who had bars to seek some kind of i George chairman of the Massachusetts alcoholic beverages control has Little sympathy for Many bar owners who have lost their coverage and Are calling for damage he said bar owners had failed for years to heed warn Ings that they risked losing coverage if they continued serving obviously Drunken you can have two children at Home waiting for you to bring Home the Mccarthy what is the widow supposed to do in that Case settled for if she has two or three children Many alcohol servers unaware of liability by Maud Beelman associated press attorney specializing in such Beitman recently settled for million with a restaurant in the death of a 24yearold woman killed by a Drunken one of the largest settlements to Date was in California in May 1983 for million against a convenience store that sold alcohol to a he despite the Clear need for bar owners to be More despite a staggering number of Drunken driving fatalities and multimillion Dollar Law those who work behind a bar generally dont know the Legal consequences of filling a Glass once too Drunken Drivers killed an estimated people last based on department of transportation Fig and at least 35 states now allow victims or their families to sue alcohol servers for a research team at Pennsylvania state University decided to ask bartenders and restaurant owners How Well they knew the what they were doing to police drunks and protect and what they would be willing to try to reduce the number of Drunken one study looked at 150 members of the Pennsylvania restaurant association with bars in har Risburg or the researchers found that managers showed moderate knowledge of their Legal responsibilities regarding Patron averaging 61 percent Correct answers on a in a separate study of eight bars and restaurant bars in state a University town with a Loyal and steady pub researcher Stephen Mastrofski found that management again was pretty knowledgeable about its but when you got to the alcohol about a third were quite said an assistant professor of Justice they have very Little knowledge of the someone was refused Mastrofski visibly intoxicated is the catch phrase for alcohol servers and attorneys it is the term most including use in determining under the Pennsylvania liquor if a bar bartender or waiter serves alcohol to a person who is visibly he can be held liable for damages that person May inflict on a third All states except Florida and new Mexico make it illegal for liquor licensees to knowingly sell alcohol to an intoxicated said Andrew chairman of Penn states department of restaurant and institutional manage ment and another researcher on the lawsuits have become increasingly common in Drunken driving and More and More of the suits Are being settled out of for obvious divine juries Are very sympathetic toward victims of drunk Drivers and there More willing to hold bars and restau rants liable than they used said Ronald a patrons want them less than 50 percent of the managers polled said they would agree to provide free taxi service to Drunken a establish drink limits or alter lighting and music Levels to discourage in the local Mastrofski asked 800 University students whether they would return to a bar that dropped Happy refused to serve visibly intoxicated patrons or designated a no drinking Driver at the Start of the the option that Drew the most negative response is most popular among he said having the Driver not drink fifty two percent of the students said they would be less Likely to return if the bartender designated a no drinking and Only 16 percent of the restaurants polled said they would be willing to Institute such an most americans support harsh penal ties for Drunken Drivers but do not believe bartenders and social hosts should be responsible for alcohol related a Media Genera associated press poll the poll also found that 15 percent of the respondents have had a family member injured or killed by a Drunken and almost half of those who drink admit driving after drinking too bartenders can be sued for damages by victims of Drunken driving accidents in at least 35 and the new Jersey supreme court last year ruled that social hosts May be held liable for Drunken driving accidents caused by their intoxicated an estimated people were killed in Drunken driving accidents last according to the depart ment of few issues have galvanized the Public As strongly in recent and most states have either toughened their Drunken driving Laws or Are considering doing in the Media Genera Lap 72 percent of the respondents said bartenders should not be legally responsible for Drunken driving accidents caused by their Cus sixty five percent disagreed with the new Jersey ruling on liability for social but the respondents came Down hard on the Drunken Drivers if someone is convicted of Drunken driving they should be required to attend an alcohol rehabilitation according to nearly three fourths of the respondents in the nationwide Telephone Twenty three percent said a mandatory jail sentence should be imposed on the first while 39 per cent said a second conviction should carry a mandatory nine percent said a Drunken Driver should be convicted three times before going to Twenty six percent said sentencing should be left to the discretion of the and 3 percent were More than six in 10 of the respondents said they drank alcoholic among the 49 percent admitted driving after they had too much to state statutes on liability by the associated press about 75 percent of the employees said they had no training in recognizing or handling a and 25 percent said they had a Little Mastrofski Twenty six percent of the managers questioned statewide said they would try to keep a drunk on the premises until he sobered up a Little 34 percent said they would Call police if the drunk refused to take alter native transportation or remain on the ninety percent of the restaurants agreed that patrons who were visibly intoxicated would not be served any More in the local it seemed to take a Gross the following is a breakdown of the states and their Laws regarding liability for injuries or damages caused in alcohol related according to Ronald a attorney who specializes in such cases and writes a newsletter on dram shop Twenty three states have specific dram shop Laws passed by their Legislatures new new North North Pennsylva Rhode Vermont and on May a new statute in Wyoming limited liability for liquor License saying they were not responsible for damages unless it was reasonably apparent that a person buying or receiving liquor was twelve states have common Law Laws established by the courts Indi new Washington and fifteen states have no liability Laws Dela new South South a Virginia and West in Texas and Drunken driving judgments currently working their Way through the court systems could eventually result in common Law younger people were More Likely to drink and drive than older and men were More Likely to drink and drive than women were also More Likely than men to support stiffer penalties for Drunken in recent Many states have been toughening raising their drinking Ages in response to a Federal Law that requires them to have a Legal drinking age of 21 by or risk losing their Federal Highway some states have cracked Down on Drunken driving by imposing stiff penalties like mandatory jail and others have been setting up Road blocks to routinely Check for Drunken Drivers also face stiff penalties in other parts of the in the for offenders can be sentenced to six months of weekend service in hospitals and old age Drunken Drivers in Britain automatically lose their licenses for a Scandinavia has some of the strictest in first offenders Are jailed for at least three weeks and their licenses taken for at least a in a fatal Acci licenses can be withdrawn for in first offenders can be jailed up to four in Hong first offenders face six months in results of poll associated press Here Are the questions used in the Media Genera associated press poll on drinking and driving some people like to have a drink every Day before dinner or at lunch others drink less often and some people dont drink at How about you would you be the everyday the sometimes or the never Drinker everyday 7 sometimes 56 never 37 have you Ever driven after youve had too much to drink asked of drinkers yes 49 no 50 dont no answer 1 should a person convicted of Drunken driving for the first time be required to attend an alcohol rehabilitation or not yes 74 no 22 dont no answer 4 should a mandatory jail sentence be imposed on a person convicted of Drunken driving eth first time it when it happens the second the third or should a jail sentence be imposed Only when the judge believes it is justified first time 23 second time 39 third time 9 when judge believes justified 26 per dont no answer 3 do you agree or disagree with a 1984 new Jersey supreme court decision that says social hosts Are liable for Drunken driving accidents caused by their guests agree 27 disagree 65 dont no answer 8 do you agree or disagree that bartenders should be held liable for Drunken driving accidents caused by their customers agree 20 disagree 72 dont no answer 8 have you Ever had a family member injured or killed by a Drunken or not yes 15 no 85 Page 14 the stars and stripes june 1985 june 1985 the stars and stripes Page 15