In some personal injury cases, placing blame can seem pretty straightforward. There are clearly two sides: one is a victim and the other is the guilty party. But what happens when other entities or individuals end up playing a role in the case? Where does the liability fall?
Take, for example, a drunk driving accident. If a drunk driver hits an individual crossing the road, we immediately place blame on the driver without a second thought. But in this type of scenario, there may be more to the story. Things become a lot more complicated when we learn that the driver is a 19-year-old man who was driving home from a party at a friend’s house.
In these types of scenarios, many states have dram shop laws that come into play. Dram shop laws can help victims hold businesses liable for serving alcohol to someone who injures another individual while intoxicated. In Georgia, these laws also apply to a homeowner who serves alcohol in his or her home.
A large handful of states actually have specific social host laws that pertain to either persons of all ages or just to minors.
If someone is injured or killed in this type of scenario, there are specific things that need to be proven in order to hold a social host liable. It’s not as simple as just proving that the individual had alcohol in his or her home. A personal injury attorney can dig into the specific circumstances of the case and work to hold the appropriate parties liable for their actions.
