Family Hopes to Toughen Penalties on Restaurants Serving Drunk Patrons


Maryland Family Sues Bar Over Drunk Driving Death: MyFoxDC.com

The family of a girl killed in an auto accident wants the bar who served the drunk driver held liable. They filed a $3.2 million lawsuit against the Dogfish Head Alehouse. Unfortunately for the family, dram shop liability does not apply in Maryland as of now, and the punishment is simply a misdemeanor rather than a felony. The crash happened when a drunk driver crashed his SUV into a family’s car. The girl’s grandfather was in the vehicle when the SUV hit them going 100mph. The drunk driver was sentenced to eight years in prison. The family’s lawsuit claims the restaurant knew he was drunk and continued to serve him alcohol.

“The fact he bought all this alcohol there, beer and hard liquor, that he was belligerent and , you add all these together and you have to conclude this guy was intoxicated and should not have been permitted to drive,” Andrew Bederman (the family’s attorney)

Bederman also discovered bars are rarely found guilty of serving drunk patrons. “Although there are criminal laws on the books, they’re not being enforced,” Bederman concluded.

According to news reports, Maryland is one of just eight states that do not hold restaurants liable for serving too much alcohol. The family is working to make penalties on restaurants who serve patrons who drive drunk tougher, and hope to have it called “Jazimen’s law.”