Ifyou get drunk at someone else’s house then they tell you to leave, if you then have an accident are they also liable?
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Ifyou get drunk at someone else’s house then they tell you to leave, if you then have an accident are they also liable?
My daughter and boyfriend went to his mother’s house to help her move. They got into a fight and someone there took her keys so she could not leave. My daughter called me crying and wanted me to go get her. When I got there I found out that she had been given back her keys and told to leave. However she returned shortly after to get her purse. I tried to help her but she continued to argue with her boyfriend. Then she got into her car as he was yelling at her and drove to the corner and hit a parked car. She was arrested. Is the family partly responsible because they knew her condition was very bad and still let her drive?
Asked on November 2, 2010 under Criminal Law, California
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
In some states there is something in the law known as civil "social host liability". This means that a social host may be found liable for negligence in a private lawsuit brought by someone injured by a guest allowed to drink on the host’s private property. In CA however, there is no civil statute allowing individuals to bring such a suit. In fact, state law statute provides that social hosts who furnish alcoholic beverages to any person are immune from lawsuits for damages or injury suffered by that person or any third party, resulting from consumption of those beverages.
Recently there have been moves to change this but so far this remains the law.
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