In another thread we spoke about bartenders' liability for "over the limit" patrons.

Should someone hosting a party be held liable should one of their guests drink too much then injure someone in a vehicle on their way home?

Why not hold the drunk responsible?

I don't see why they should be responsible, I agree with Shale, let them be responsible. If the house party host happens to see they have had too much to drink then the host should probably intervene and not let that person drive.

I didn't have my glasses on when I read the title of this thread, and thought that "Party Hosts" was "Panty Hose", and started saying "what the. . . ."

LOL

Laws vary by state. It can be a complicated situation but under certain circumstances I don't have a problem in holding a social host responsible along with their drunk guest (not instead of) for injury/damage to a third party.

Hyacinth Girl wrote:

I didn't have my glasses on when I read the title of this thread, and thought that "Party Hosts" was "Panty Hose", and started saying "what the. . . ."

LOL

Alan Smithee wrote:

Laws vary by state. It can be a complicated situation but under certain circumstances I don't have a problem in holding a social host responsible along with their drunk guest (not instead of) for injury/damage to a third party.

I agree. I do think that the hosts should be held accountable to a degree, since they can considered the enabler, or instigator. In Michigan, if a drunk driver leaves your alcohol served party and causes a car accident as a result of their drinking, the host is liable.

That's kinda tough. If I see someone going over the limit, I'll kick them out before they can hurl all over my house. But I'll at least tell someone to look after them lol.

My thing is this--if you KNOW you have an alcohol problem or tend to drink too much, that's on YOU. The most I'll do is hide your keys, but the party won't stop for YOUR demons, and I'm not going to babysit them, either. Most likely, I would issue a general disclaimer to everyone coming that they are to party responsibly--and those who have proven they can't won't be invited to begin with.

Nystyle709 wrote:

In general.....no. A bar or a club isn't responsible for their patrons so why should a host at their own house party be?

Yeah can be. Under dram shop laws, if they serve people who are visibly intoxicated they can be held liable by someone who the drunk goes out and injures or kills. Property damage too. Not all states have them but NY does for example.

We actually stopped inviting a certain family to our parties because they would both get drunk and then drive home with the kids. That happened twice and won't happen again.

When I worked at a gas station and I sold alcohol to someone who was intoxicated, and they end up in a accident, I could be held liable.

Sucks and I don't agree with it.

Cheaps wrote:

When I worked at a gas station and I sold alcohol to someone who was intoxicated, and they end up in a accident, I could be held liable.

Sucks and I don't agree with it.

Wow. I did not know that held true for stores and gas stations. That is messed up. How can you determine intoxication when they are just buying at a gas station...

Kind of off topic, but tonight at 6:50, we were at the gas station for Jay to buy beer. There was a county cop in there. It felt so funny to be buying beer in front of a cop like that. I just felt like I should tell him we are going to a place within walking distance of where we were going to drink the beer!