Liability of Tennessee Bars and Restaurants for the Actions of Drunk Drivers
When people are injured and/or suffer wrongful death in Tennessee due to a drunk driver, they are often left without a sufficient civil remedy because the drunk driver had no ability to pay and the victim’s insurance didn’t cover all the damages. But what about the restaurant, bar or club that sold or furnished the drunk driver with alcohol? Can they be civilly liable in Tennessee?
It depends. Under T.C.A. § 57-10-101, the General Assembly codified the common-law rule providing that the legal cause of injuries in a Tennessee car wreck involving alcohol is the consumption rather than the furnishing of alcohol. In other words, the statute makes it impossible to sue the parties that furnished or sold the alcohol to the drunk driver because furnishing alcohol by itself cannot be the basis for liability.
However, T.C.A. § 57-10-102 provides two exceptions where alcohol is sold to a person who later causes an accident by virtue of his or her consumption of alcohol. The first exception applies to restaurants, clubs or bars who sell alcoholic beverages to persons known to be under the age of twenty-one. The second exception applies when the beverage was sold to a person who was “obviously intoxicated and such person caused the personal injury or death as the direct result of the consumption of the alcoholic beverage.”
When sued, the defendant restaurant or club often defends on the basis that the restaurant did not actually sell the alcohol to the person causing the car accident. While the law does state that the defendant must sell alcohol to the driver to be liable, defendants have tried to stretch the provision to require proof that the drunk driver actually purchased the alcohol. One court, however, recently decided to the contrary, holding that if payment was the law, restaurants would start requiring that only one person in a group pay the tab in order to shield itself from liability. What suffices as “selling alcohol” under this judicial holding then is proof that 1) the driver ordered the alcohol, 2) the restaurant, bar or club served it to the offending driver, and 3) the offending driver consumed it.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a Tennessee motor vehicle accident involving a drunk driver, you may have an action against the restaurant or club that furnished or sold the alcohol to the offending driver. If injured, give the experienced car wreck attorneys in Knoxville from Baker Associates a call at 866-853-2888.
