Pennsylvania’s Current Dram Shop Law Makes It Unlawful To Serve Liquor or Malt or Any Brewed Alcoholic Beverages To Any Person Visibly Intoxicated
Since 1979, the Philadelphia personal injury law firm of Reiff and Bily has been representing individuals who have been involved in accidents or assaults by individuals who were visibly intoxicated and continued to be served intoxicating substances by bars or establishments known as Dram Shops. The current laws of Pennsylvania allow for Dram Shops to be held liable for injuries caused or suffered by intoxicated persons. The theory behind the Pennsylvania Dram Shop Law is to protect not only the public at large but also to protect the individual consuming the alcohol.
Currently Pennsylvania is in a minority of jurisdictions that allows intoxicated patrons to recover for damages caused by their own intoxication if the bar or restaurant that served them had knowledge that they were intoxicated. Often Pennsylvania’s Dram Shop law comes into play when an intoxicated person causes a serious car accident or the person is injured in a bar fight.
Dram shop laws are currently in force in some form or another in 42 states including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. These laws impose civil liability on individuals, restaurants, bars or beverage retailers who sell alcohol to minors or adults who are obviously intoxicated. The purpose of Dram Shop laws is to provide an incentive for alcohol serving establishments to train their employees in responsible beverage service, to check ID’s, to reduce drink promotions which promote excess alcohol consumption, and ultimately to reduce serious and catastrophic personal injury accidents.
Studies have recognized that Dram Shop liability laws, which allow individuals to sue bars for drunken behavior of their patrons, are strongly associated with lower minor and adult fatality and personal injury rates.
I have noted in my previous articles that social host liability laws also are an extension of Dram Shop laws which may impose potential civil liability on individuals in a non-commercial setting when social hosts provide alcohol to minors or obviously intoxicated adults and thereafter that person is involved in an alcohol related crash resulting in injury or death.
Common examples of the extension of the Dram Shop Act in the social host liability law context would be an out-of-control home party involving minors and adults who are providing alcohol and failing to properly supervise underage drinking, therefore facilitating unsafe behavior. Another example may come from an adult host purchasing or providing alcohol for underage youth.
Many on the defense side would argue that Pennsylvania should change its current precedent of allowing for liability on the part of Dram Shops for injuries sustained by intoxicated patrons due to the fact that it allows intoxicated patrons to benefit from their own voluntary intoxication. Some would argue that while there is something to be said for encouraging Dram Shop owners to be vigilant in their sales of alcohol, accountability should be placed upon the intoxicated individual and that patrons should drink responsibly and not be rewarded by the judicial system for not doing so.
As a Pennsylvania personal injury attorney who has prosecuted thousands of claims involving catastrophic auto accidents where drinking has been involved, I believe that drunk drivers and the establishments where intoxicating substances are purchased should be held accountable for the catastrophic damage that they inflict upon individuals and families. Our attorneys have successfully represented many individuals against establishments that have neglected their Dram Shop responsibilities and it is our intention to hold every drunk driver and establishment responsible for the devastating injuries and deaths caused due to their neglect of responsibility, placing profits and irresponsible actions over safety.
If you have been involved in an automobile accident or serious assault caused by a drunk driver, please contact the lawyers at Reiff and Bily to discuss your legal rights at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.
