Drinking and Driving

In what would seem an open and shut Dram Shop Liability and Wrongful Death Action, that I began discussing in my last blog post titled, “A Midtown, Georgia, now Closed, once Popular, Night-Club has a Default Judgment of over $ 10 Million Against it in a Dram Shop Liability Wrongful Death Action ~ part one,” this case turns into a fight with an insurance company, the withdraw of attorneys by order of the court, and the insurance company’s CEO and founder, Jeffrey Cohen, now sitting in a federal detention facility awaiting trial on charges of making false statements and money laundering and he is attempting to represent himself in said action.

This most tragic incident began on January 19, 2010 when Christa Scott, then age 26, went to work at her job as a waitress for the once popular drinking and clubbing hotspot in Midtown, Atlanta, Georgia, Door 44. That night Door 44 was the host of a “Scallywags Ball” that was inviting patrons of the club to, “Come Get Stewed, Screwed, and Tattooed,” which was code for what the club was known for, wild partying and drinking. The bar not only hosted such events, it also encouraged its employees, like Scott, to drink with patrons and had employees do shots before shifts also known as “shift shots”.

This most tragic incident began on January 19, 2010 when Christa Scott, then age 26, went to work at her job as a waitress for the once popular drinking and clubbing hotspot in Midtown, Atlanta, Georgia, Door 44. That night Door 44 was the host of a “Scallywags Ball” that was inviting patrons of the club to, “Come Get Stewed, Screwed, and Tattooed,” which was code for what the club was known for, wild partying and drinking. The bar not only hosted such events, it also encouraged its employees, like Scott, to drink with patrons and had employees do shots before shifts also known as “shift shots”.

In 2008, a young man was driving drunk when he hit an illegally parked tractor-trailer vehicle, setting the drunk driver’s vehicle into flames, and killing the drunk driver along with his passenger. The parents of the drunk driver are seeking damages from the owner and operator of the illegally parked vehicle.

To reiterate prior blog posts about both the dram shop rule as it applies in Georgia and who can later be held responsible for serving alcohol when someone is later injured or killed, and the dangers of drinking and driving, a Judge in Boston, Massachusetts recently ordered the payment of a total of two million dollars ($ 2,000,000.00/and No 00ths) to each of the parents of a teenager who was killed in a drunk driving crash.

This is another strong reminder never to get behind the wheel of a car, truck, or any machine if you have been drinking or are under the influence of any drugs or mind altering medications or the like. In one of my previous blog posts I wrote about a groom who allegedly swerved to avoid hitting a dog on the eve of his wedding day when the car he was driving went off of the road and crushed the bride underneath the car killing her at the scene of the accident.

Recently, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that an Acworth, GA man was killed near Cobb Parkway after his pickup stalled and he was out putting cones on the side of the road when he was struck and killed by a drunk driver. This is a very unfortunate situation that could have been avoided on at least two accounts. First, the man should have left his vehicle when it stalled, gotten as far away from his vehicle as possible, and called 911 for assistance.