Whether a social host who enables his guest to become drunk should be liable to the victim of an automobile accident caused by the drunken driving of
Whether a social host who enables his guest to become drunk should be liable to the victim of an automobile accident ... ?

Summary/Abstract: WHETHER A SOCIAL HOST WHO ENABLES HIS GUEST TO BECOME DRUNK SHOULD BE LIABLE TO THE VICTIM OF AN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT CAUSED BY THE DRUNKEN DRIVING OF THE GUEST? There is no straight answer to the raised issue whether a social host who enables his guest to become drunk is liable to the victim of an automobile accident caused by the drunken driving of the guest. In order to answer this question, each individual case needs a deep examination of all relevant circumstances. However, from the analyzed material the following conclusions can be made: If there are no specific laws imposing social host liability for the consequences of their guest’s drunk driving, social host still may be liable under the general law of negligence, which generally requires proving the following basic elements: that there was a duty, the duty was breached, causation, and damage. Social host, like every individual, has a duty to act like a reasonable prudent person and not to create conditions causing damage to another. It may be assumed that social host, knowing that his guest will soon be driving, has a duty not to furnish alcohol to the guest or control consumption. This assumption could be made on a basis of the public policy, that the social host owes the injured innocent party of the general and motoring public a duty of reasonable care, also upon a duty not to create risk and hazardous conditions. Social host, directly serving alcohol to the guest, who will be driving thereafter, breaches his duty of care, owed the injured innocent party of the general and motoring public. Causation is the next step in the negligence analysis, which is probably the most difficult element to prove, because of the view that voluntary consumption of alcohol, rather than the furnishing of alcohol was the proximate cause of an injury. A careful analysis should be made to determine if the harm suffered by the plaintiff was foreseeable and if so, whether there was a direct relationship of proximity. Foreseeability of the injury could be based on the host’s knowledge that the guest in intoxicated and that he is going to operate his motor vehicle while being drunk. Social host should foresee that provision of alcohol will make his guest to become drunk and, having in mind that the guest will soon be driving, can foresee that his continued provision of liquor to the guest will make it more likely that he will not be able to drive carefully and is likely to make an accident injuring someone as a result of the drunken driving. Person, who negligently furnishes liquor to another when such furnishing of liquor is a substantial factor in causing an injury to third party, should be liable for the consequences of such conduct. Social host should be responsible to compensate for any actual damage and/or injury that occur as a result of an intoxicated guests harming or injuring another party in proportion to his fault.

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