It may be a term known by only a few – specifically a skilled personal injury attorney or a responsible operator of an establishment that sells and serves alcohol to its customers – but Colorado has a “dram law” on the state books. The legislation was passed in an effort to curb the very real and tragic problem of drinking and driving, and the measure has proven to work.
Colorado’s Dram Shop law permits the owner of a bar or restaurant to be held responsible for serving an intoxicated patron that seriously injured or kills someone while under the influence. The Denver drunk driving accident lawyers at Rosenthal & Heymann can assist accident victims in recovering damages from a negligent business that over-serves alcohol to an intoxicated patron.
Dram shop laws, which originated from the era when alcohol was sold in units called “drams”, (about 1/8th of a fluid ounce), were enacted to place liability on the operators of liquor stores, bars, restaurants, taverns, sports stadiums and other commercial operations that provide alcohol for sale. Some state’s dram shop laws even extend to non-commercial entities where one might be over served alcohol, including private homes or an employer’s private Holiday party. This portion of the statute, known as the “social host” provision, has limited application in Colorado, yet still could become a factor in the event an intoxicated guest causes an accident involving personal injury, death or property damage.
The bottom line is if you are hosting a party where alcohol will be served, especially if you are an employer and the function is for your employees and/or clients or customers, it is best to monitor the age of those consuming any alcohol, limit the consumption of alcohol by providing limited drink redemption tickets, and always make provisions for an intoxicated guest or employee to receive a safe ride home.
The Denver injury attorneys at Rosenthal & Heymann are familiar with the complexities of dram shop laws, and may use them to establish liability in cases in which it is suspected that a visibly intoxicated person was still allowed to purchase alcohol, and subsequently causes a Colorado drunk driving accident.
Organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, have long advocated for the establishment of dram shop laws in all 50 U.S. states, as well in other countries. Currently, only 10 states have no such law and dram shop liability laws can vary greatly from state to state.
In Colorado, the criteria for a successful dram shop liability lawsuit must meet the qualification of “obvious intoxication”. In other words, it needs to be proven that any responsible server, manager or owner of the establishment being sued should have been able to easily determine the person in question was intoxicated.
Dram shop liability cases have proven to be effective in seeking justice and obtaining significant financial compensation for people injured, or the families of those killed, due to an over served drunk driver.
In one landmark case argued in 1999, a drunk driver coming from a New York Giants football game struck another vehicle. A 9-year old girl was paralyzed in the crash, and the jury in the trial against the drunk driver awarded her family $135 million. Through the dram shop liability law, the young girl’s legal counsel sued not only the drunk driver, but the beer sales concession company at the football stadium. The financial award was assessed evenly between the two entities.
In 2008, Colorado had 173 drunk driving related fatalities. If a drunk driver has injured you or someone you love, contact the Denver drunk driving accident attorneys at Rosenthal & Heymann for a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights.
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