Drinking and Driving

This is my follow up to the blog post regarding the Dram Shop Act in Georgia and it’s expansion to liability on the part of Convenience Stores in Georgia, and in Canton, GA. Prior to the case of Flores et. al. O.C.G.A. 51-1-40, the Dram Shop Act in Georgia, generally referred to liability on the part of an establishment that was licensed to sell alcoholic beverages and could be held liable if such beverages were consumed on the premises licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages and such consumption, not the sale (emphasis mine), of alcoholic beverages, is the proximate cause of any injury, including death or property damage, inflicted by an intoxicated person upon himself or upon another person.

In a follow up to the my recent blog post regarding a parent being liable for the act of a child as well as the potential of a parent being liable for act of their children’s friends in drunk driving accidents this brings me to the very important topic of legal liability by the intoxicated person as well as the person and/or establishment who sold, sponsored, furnished or served the alcohol to the person who ultimately caused the accident. In Georgia, and in Canton, GA, the legal alcohol limit is, I quote from, “GA. Code 40-6-391 Prohibition on driving under influence of alcohol, drugs, or other named substances; standards; punishments (Georgia Code (2013 Edition)) (5) The person’s alcohol concentration is 0.08 grams or more at any time within three hours after such driving or being in actual physical control from alcohol consumed before such driving or being in actual physical control ended…” HISTORY: Code 1981, § 51-1-40, enacted by Ga. L. 1988, p. 1692, § 1.