Houston Dram Shop Liquor Liability

The Attorneys at Grossman Law Offices Discuss Texas Dram Shop Law in Connection to Houston Drunk Driving Accidents

If you’ve been injured in a Houston drunk driving accident, or if you’ve lost a loved one due to the negligent behavior of a drunk driver in South Texas, you may be confused about your possible legal options in order to seek compensation as a result of your injury or loss.

In such instances, that is quite a normal response, as a vast majority of Texans are either unaware of the laws that govern civil liability in drunk driving accidents, or simply do not know who to turn to with their questions in their time of need. However, Houston drunk driving accident attorney Michael Grossman has spent the last 20 years ensuring that the rights of those affected by drunk drivers are defended. In the following informational article, we’ll present the facts regarding Texas dram shop law, why these types of laws exist in Texas, and how these dram shop laws may affect your personal injury or wrongful death case. After reading through the following information, you may contact our offices at 1-855-392-0000 (toll free) for a free and private legal consultation with any further questions you may have regarding a drunk driving accident in Houston or another South Texas town. The drunk driving accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices are here to help you through this likely trying and difficult time. By understanding the laws that often govern drunk driving accidents in Texas, you will have knowledge that can help you through the legal proceedings in order to seek just compensation for your injury or loss.

Who’s at Fault in a Houston Drunk Driving Accident?

The question of blame, also known as liability, is often the first issue investigated in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. Such lawsuits must have a defendant, and the defendant is a person or entity responsible for violating their legal duty toward the plaintiff, or victim, resulting in the plaintiff incurring some type of financial loss, known as damages. The goal of a civil lawsuit is for the plaintiff to be compensated for that financial loss by the party responsible for that loss. As such, identifying the liable parties is the first necessary step in seeking compensation from such a negligent party. In drunk driving accidents, there can often be more then one liable party. At the outset, many people may be confused by this idea, assuming that the drunken driver is the sole party responsible for a drunk driving wreck. While that can be the case in some instances, such as when a person gets drunk at their house and then has a drunk driving wreck causing injury or loss of life, there are many more instances where a negligent alcohol-serving establishment such as a bar or restaurant may bear partial liability for a drunk driving accident in Texas. Texas dram shop law comes into effect when these types of accidents occur.

What Does Texas Dram Shop Law Say?

Texas dram shop law is part of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code. It states that a bar, restaurant, or a similar type of alcohol-serving establishment can be held partially, vicariously liable for a drunken driving wreck resulting in an injury or loss of life if their negligent behavior caused or contributed to the wreck. In other words, Texas dram shop law sees such a negligent alcohol-serving establishment as an entity that was part of a chain of events that led up to a drunken driving accident. Conceivably, without their involvement, no drunk driving accident would have occurred. Violations of Texas dram shop law can occur in two distinct ways: an alcohol-serving establishment over-serves a patron, such that they surpass the .08% legal blood alcohol content level in Texas, or the alcohol-serving establishment allows an intoxicated individual to leave their premises behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

Texas dram shop law also works to hold a negligent bar or restaurant proportionately accountable for their actions, meaning that an aggrieved party can stand to receive a commensurate amount of compensation based on the percentage of the role that the bar or restaurant is deemed to have played in contributing to a drunk driving accident. For example, if a bar is held to be 20% responsible for an accident and the total amount of damages incurred by a plaintiff is $1,000,000, then the bar would be held accountable for $200,000 of those damages. Texas dram shop law is not meant to hold a bar or restaurant wholly liable for a drunk driving accident. In other words, such a negligent party will always be only partially liable for a drunk driving accident, since the drunk driver also bears liability for the accident. These types of drunk driving laws work to ensure that an alcohol-serving establishment is not negligent in their duties to provide for both their patrons’ safety and for public safety.

How Can a Houston Bar Be Liable for a Drunk Driving Accident?

Some people may be confused or take issue with the fact that Texas dram shop law holds a bar or restaurant accountable for another person’s actions. After all, such an establishment cannot dictate or control what a person does. However, these laws exist since alcohol consumption contributes toward degrading a person’s ability to use reason, which means that a person who is drunk cannot be trusted to know whether or not they’re capable of driving. In these instances, such responsibility is partially passed to the entity responsible for allowing such a person to get to an inebriated state. Texas state law makes it illegal for a person to be in public with a blood alcohol content level over .08%, which means that such drunkenness is a safety risk, both to the person that is drunk as well as to the general public. As such, a bar or restaurant cannot over-serve a person so that they become intoxicated and thus incapable of making reasonable decisions regarding their ability to drive. If such over-serving occurs and an injurious or fatal drunk driving accident occurs, the bar or restaurant would likely be partially liable for the accident.

An example of this type of vicarious liability may be useful to help elucidate the motives behind Texas dram shop law. Imagine that your 17-year-old child drove herself to a dentist to have her wisdom teeth extracted. As part of the dental surgery, she’s given a heavy dose of anaesthesia, but allowed to drive home before the anaesthesia has worn off. In all likelihood, an accident would occur due to her intoxicated state, and the negligent dentist could be held partially liable for allowing the patient to leave while still in an inebriated state. Texas dram shop works to ensure that all liable parties are held proportionately accountable for their negligent behavior in contributing to a Texas drunken driving wreck.

What Are the Responsibilities of Texas Bartenders and Servers?

Texas bars and restaurants that serve alcohol must obtain a liquor license through the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) before being allowed to legally sell and distribute alcoholic beverages. Such licensure requires that the workers, bartenders, and servers at these establishments undergo specific training where they’re informed of their duties in regards to Texas law and the serving of alcohol, as well as how to look out for the warning signs of drunkenness. In other words, a bartender or server cannot plead ignorance in regards to Texas dram shop law as a way of skirting responsibility for their negligent behavior.

Written policies must also be in place at alcohol serving establishments in Texas that work to ensure that servers and bartenders are able to track and monitor a patron’s alcohol consumption, which includes the type and quantity of alcohol consumed. Policies that have proven to be effective have included tally sheets, both written and electronic, hand signals, or color-coded coasters or glasses, which can all be used to measure the amount and type of alcohol consumption that is going on at a bar or restaurant. Unfortunately, even with these types of policies in place, over-serving can still occur, especially if a bartender or server desires a better tip or is urged by their management to increase alcohol sales.

Additionally, written policies must exist that describe what’s to be done when a customer becomes intoxicated. In most instances, a manager will intercede and work to resolve the situation before it escalates into something more than just a night out at a restaurant. Drink consumption will be cut off, and food may be offered. If the inebriated person has brought in their own alcohol, it will be removed from them. Arrangements for transportation via taxi may also be made for the drunk patron by a worker at the bar or restaurant, in which a representative of the bar or restaurant must witness the drunk driven getting into a cab. If such reasonable actions are not taken by an alcohol-serving establishment, then the bar or restaurant could be held partially liable for any accident that a drunk patron may cause after visiting their restaurant.

What Are Signs of Intoxication?

Many people know what the signs of intoxication are: aggressive behavior, drowsiness, slurred speech, unbalanced walking, incoherent thought, etc. Bartenders and servers are trained to be on the lookout for such signs so that they do not over-serve such an individual or allow them to drive off their premises while drunk. However, what is a bartender supposed to do if a person can “hold their drink,” so to speak? There are guidelines that cover this as well, and this is one of the areas in which keeping close tabs on a patron’s tab becomes vitally important toward ensuring compliance with Texas dram shop law. For example, standards exist in which a person should not be served more than two glasses of wine per hour, or 1 shot of liquor or 1 cocktail made from liquor per hour, or more then two 20-ounce servings of beer per hour. Serving alcohol in excess of these standards can often result in a patron exceeding a .08% blood alcohol content level, even if their exterior behavior belies their inebriated state. If such a drunken person later causes a Houston drunken driving accident that results in personal injury or death, a negligent bar or restaurant cannot escape partial liability behind the fact that they simply did not see any apparent signs of intoxication.

How Does Proximate Cause Factor into a Houston Drunk Driving Accident Case?

Proximate cause means that a liable party, i.e. a defendant, was partially responsible for causing or contributing to an accident. In other words, they were part of the chain of events that led up to a plaintiff’s injury or loss. In Texas drunken driving collisions, the drunk driver would be considered the direct cause, while an alcohol-serving establishment, if involved, would be considered a proximate cause. In auto accidents there can often be multiple proximate causes, meaning that a unique case must often be built against each defendant based on their role in the accident. With 20 years of experience in both personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, Houston drunken driving wreck lawyer Michael Grossman can assist you in seeking fair compensation from all parties involved in your drunk driving accident.

What is the Safe Harbor Defense?

If a drunk driver causes a wreck resulting in injury or death and the driver had been drinking at a bar or restaurant, but the alcohol-serving establishment did everything within reason to prevent the drunk driver from driving drunk, such an establishment can use the safe harbor defense. In other words, the bar or restaurant must be able to prove that they followed all state guidelines and were compliant with Texas dram shop law and the laws governing the sale and distribution of alcohol in the State of Texas. If proven true, the bar or restaurant is then immune to a lawsuit from an aggrieved party.

However, the safe harbor defense can also be employed by alcohol-serving establishments that were negligent in their duties to provide for the public safety and the safety of their patrons. They will attempt to use the safe harbor defense in the hopes that a thorough investigation will not be made into their behavior in regards to a drunk driving accident. In those instances, having the experienced help of a Houston drunk driving accident law firm like Grossman Law Offices can often prove invaluable, since we can conduct an independent investigation into the drunk driving accident in order to ascertain if a bar or restaurant was indeed negligent in their duties, contributing to your injury or loss as a result of a Houston drunk driving wreck. With 20 years of experience in Texas dram shop cases, we’re familiar with the tactic often employed by negligent bars and restaurants, as well as their attorneys. We will seek to uncover all liable parties so that you can stand to be fully compensated by those responsible for your injury or loss.

Contact Houston Dram Shop Attorney Michael Grossman for Help With Your Drunk Driving Accident Case

Drunk driving accidents can be especially devastating because of the amount of damage they can cause. Such accidents far too often result in severe personal injury or even death. An injured victim or a bereaved family could stand to be compensated for their financial losses, such as medical bills, funeral expenses, legal fees, lost wages due to time off from work, as well as their pain and suffering, through a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death lawsuit. Furthermore, if a negligent bar, restaurant, or alcohol-serving establishment was involved in the Houston drunk driving wreck that caused you harm or loss, they could also be held partially liable for the accident. In seeking justice through a lawsuit, you’ll not only be seeking compensation for your incurred damages, but you will also be working to ensure that further similar accidents don’t have to occur to another person or family as a result of a negligent bar or restaurant. However, seeking compensation through such a lawsuit that involved Texas dram shop law can be challenging for attorneys with little to no experience in such cases. With two decades of such experience, Houston drunk driving wreck lawyer Michael Grossman is ready to assist you in seeking full and fair compensation from the negligent parties responsible for your injury or loss. Don’t let a past injury or loss result in further financial strain.Contact Grossman Law Offices at 1-855-392-0000 (toll free) for a free legal consultation where you can ask questions and get answers regarding your possible legal options in light of a Houston, TX drunk driving accident.