Dram Shop Liability

Drunk drivers harm, maim, and kill people. There is no excuse for this kind of carelessness. Not only should the drunk drivers be held accountable, but so too should the bars, restaurants and other establishments that served the alcohol that impaired the drunk driver before he/she got on the road.

Dram dramshop is a legal term in common law going back hundreds of years in our tort law system referring to a bar, tavern or the like where alcoholic beverages are sold. Traditionally, dram shop referred to a shop where spirits were sold by the dram, a small unit of liquid. 

Dram shop liability refers to law governing the liability of bars, taverns, restaurants, and liquor stores and other commercial establishments that serve alcoholic beverages.

Generally, dram shop laws establish the liability of establishments arising out of the sale of alcohol to visibly intoxicated persons or minors who subsequently cause death or injury to third-parties—those not having a relationship to the bar, as a result of alcohol-related car crashes and other accidents. 

The laws are intended to protect the general public from the hazards of irresponsibly serving alcohol to minors and intoxicated patrons. These liability laws have been on the books in most states for hundreds of years because of the dangers of serving alcohol to intoxicated persons (long before motor vehicles existed). 

Groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) have advocated for the enforcement and enactment of dram shop laws across the United States. 

Florida’s Dram Shop Liability Laws Actually Provide Immunity to Business

Whereas most States' dram shop liability laws were enacted to heighten awareness of drunkenness and impose liability for failing to prevent drunk customers from injuring others upon leaving the establishment, Florida has gone in the opposite direction. The Florida Legislature and governor actually sought to provide immunity, or corporate amnesty, to negligent bar owners, negligent taverns, and negligent restaurants.

Florida ’s bar owners, tavern owners, restaurants, and other alcohol-serving establishments got together and lobbied to stop from being held accountable when they help create drunk drivers. The Florida Legislature granted them that wish.

Under Florida Statute § 768.125, individuals or companies who sell or serve alcohol are not  liable for injuries or damages caused by the drunk driver except in two situations:  

• If the drunk driver was under the age of 21, the individual who served the alcohol can be held liable for the damages.
• The second exception is that parties who serve a person who they know is “habitually addicted to the use of any or all alcoholic beverages” may be liable for injury and damages caused as a result of the intoxication.

It is clear that Florida has made a strange bedfellow with the alcohol industry in providing it virtual immunity for over-serving any customer who will leave the premises and get behind the wheel of a car to cause a drunk driver accident.

These alcohol-impaired drivers are hazardous to the community’s health and pose a direct threat to families who unwittingly have to share road with them. 

Contact Your State Legislator, MADD, and Other Consumer Groups to Toughen Our Dram Shop Laws

Your voice must be heard on this issue. There is no justifiable, common sense reason for Florida to immunize irresponsible bars, taverns, restaurants, and other establishments which over-serve impaired persons with alcohol who simply walk to the parking lot, put the keys in the car, and get ready to endanger the rest of us. Dram shop liability laws have been on the books for hundreds of years -- before Florida was even a State -- and worked well to provide incentives for alcohol-serving businesses to help protect the community from drunk drivers and intoxicated person injury.

It is time that those alcohol-serving establishments be held accountable for helping place drunk drivers on Florida’s roads.

Contact your State Representative, State Senator, as well as groups like MADD, to change Florida’s current anti-consumer laws.  

If you or a family member has been injured or killed by drunk driver in a drunk driving accident, then call our accident attorneys to review your circumstances. Our personal injury lawyers would be pleased to be able to help you achieve justice.