A Boston judge has allowed a 19-year-old to sue two bars for allowing him to drink underage, ultimately leading him to crash his car while driving drunk, according to The Boston Globe.
The judge ruled that the underage drinker, who is now a paraplegic due to the crash, has shown sufficient evidence to suggest that two bars showed “willful, wanton or reckless disregard” for his intoxication, and that these bars had a legal responsibility not to serve him alcohol.
His lawyer plans to argue that the bars’ negligence led him to crash his vehicle. But what ever happened to the idea that underage drinkers are responsible for their own illegal actions?
Though the bars serving him the alcohol should have made sure that he was carrying a real I.D., it is his own fault for carrying a fake I.D., drinking illegally and deciding to drive his car afterwards.
Saying the bartenders are responsible for the car accident is like saying the employees at McDonald’s are responsible for their consumers’ obesity. Neither accusation can be argued logically.
It should be bartenders’ responsibility to do everything they can to make sure people ordering alcoholic beverages are 21 or older. It should be determined whether the bar was not carding that night or was simply fooled by a great fake I.D., but either way, the bar should only be responsible for its own ability to possess a liquor license – not the teenager’s poor decision to drive a car once he had already left the bar.
As a 19-year-old, the accuser was a legally responsible adult who should blame none other than himself for his own misjudgments.
It is unfortunate that his vehicle collided with another car at an intersection, rolling over and ejecting him from his seat. He luckily was able to survive the crash, but only he is responsible for causing it.
With the state moving to impose more severe penalties on drunken drivers, it also seems counteractive for a Boston judge to rule a person who violated the law the right to sue two bars for their actions. By driving under the influence, the accuser put at risk the lives of other people on the road, and he should receive the proper punishment for potentially causing death.
By being allowed to sue two bars for “negligence” in serving him, the judge may be encouraging other drinkers that driving drunk is acceptable, as long as you didn’t serve yourself.
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