Alcohol related injuries Flashcards
Common law
Neither sellers of liquor nor hosts were liable to those injured by those to whom they served alcohol, and impaired drivers were the proximate cause
Modern rule
Courts refused to impose liability on social hosts out of concerns that the imposition of liability on the supplier of liquor minimizes the responsibility of the drunk driver, interferes with well-established social customs, and creates a standard difficult to apply, generally social hosts are not liable
Strict liability
When defendants are held liable for injuries despite not having been at fault in any sense, actions create liability simply because a certain type of injury occurs
What is needed to prove an intentional tort case
A conscious act with intent to harm or touch and cause in fact
What is needed to prove strict liability
An act for which the law imposes a duty, and harm from the breach of that duty, causation and harm, provides the elements of duty and breach and imposes liability without fault for public policy reasons
Prima facie cases require
a) An act or omission to act (where there is a duty to do so)
b) An absolute duty to make safe (due to the nature of the activity)
c) Breach of the duty
d) The cause-in-fact
e) Proximate cause
f) Damages (must have harm)
Absolute liability
Absolutely no excuse or defense for the action, legal fiction
Policy basis
Deterrence, Spreading and shifting of losses, Reconciling benefits and burdens, & Certainty of compensation
Family Purpose Doctrine
An exception to the usual rule that parents are not vicariously liable for the torts of their children in the absence of an employment relation, joint enterprise, etc.
Subjects the owner of a car to vicarious liability when the owner provides an automobile for the general use by members of the family for non-business purposes and when the vehicle is used by a family member. Generally, it is formulated to apply only if the owner was head of household
