Posted on 08/22/2005 12:29:51 PM PDT by SmithL
Selling gas to a drunk could make store owners legally responsible for injuries suffered if the intoxicated motorist causes a crash, the state Supreme Court has ruled.
The groundbreaking ruling comes in a Knoxville lawsuit that sought to extend the state's negligence laws, long applied to those who hawk alcohol to drunks, to those who provide them gas.
In the case, Gary L. West and Michell B. Richardson suffered severe injuries in July 2000 when their vehicle was struck head-on by drunk driver Brian Lee Tarver, 49, in a crash on Rutledge Pike.
Tarver later pleaded guilty to charges including vehicular assault and second-offense driving under the influence.
Attorneys Gregory F. Coleman and Michael A. Myers later filed a lawsuit in Knox County Circuit Court, alleging that Tarver's car never would have made it to its tragic collision with West and Richardson but for the $3 worth of gas he bought at an Exxon station on Rutledge Pike just before the crash.
More importantly, the attorneys alleged, employees at the Exxon, owned by East Tennessee Pioneer Oil Co., knew Tarver was drunk - so drunk that a cashier refused to sell him beer.
The question for the state's high court was whether Pioneer could be held liable for the crash. Could or should its employees have foreseen the risk of a crash and, if so, was there something they could have done to try to prevent it?
While the high court made clear that the store's employees were not required to take affirmative action to stop Tarver from driving, they still could have refused to sell him gas, the court ruled.
"A safer alternative was readily available and easily feasible - simply refusing to sell gasoline to an obviously intoxicated driver," the court ruled in an opinion delivered by Justice William M. Barker.
According to court records, the cashier was facing a long line of customers when Tarver "pushed his way to the front of the line and asked the clerk if she would 'go get (him) some beer.' "
He reeked of alcohol and staggered when he walked, court records stated. Believing Tarver was drunk, the cashier declined to sell him beer, according to court records.
"Tarver began cursing loudly, talking to (the cashier) in a threatening manner," Barker wrote in the opinion.
"Tarver then managed to pull three crumpled one dollar bills out of his pocket and laid them on the counter," Barker wrote. "He told (the clerk), 'We need gas' and then turned to leave."
Once at the gas pumps, Tarver was too drunk to figure out how to turn the device on, the opinion stated. Two off-duty employees then helped him turn on the pump, according to the opinion. They later watched as Tarver got behind the wheel and drove into the oncoming lane of traffic on Rutledge Pike, the opinion stated.
A University of Tennessee professor later determined that Tarver's vehicle would have run out of gas before encountering West and Richardson if he had not been able to buy more fuel.
Knox County Circuit Court Judge Harold Wimberly had dismissed the lawsuit by West and Richardson, ruling that state law did not allow a claim of negligence against Pioneer for injuries Tarver caused.
The case heads back to his court for trial, where a jury must decide if blame should be placed on Pioneer and its employees. The state Supreme Court ruling only allows the case to proceed. The justices did not rule on whether Pioneer was negligent.
"We're pleased," Coleman said. "Now we can go forward with the trial itself."
Let's hope so.
So now it's the common citizen to enforce the laws now? This is BS...let the judge stand around the pumps and enforce it...
Must be the new X-42 Krintong Gas & Go...
Death By Juduciary
I think that is one of the reasons why the court here ruled that negligence was a possibility.
This situation was akin to selling a loaded gun to a falling-down drunk. It's a pretty extreme case.
Well, that's it for self-serve stations...
And if they refuse to sell the gas and the guy runs out of gas in the middle of the hiway causing a multi-car pileup and deaths?
Undoubtedly the smart play here was to delay the drunk and call police, but this sounds like a lawyers fishing trip looking for someone with money that they can take.
Those will be the next lawsuits. {/Not sarcasm}
This isn't about finding fault, it's about finding the deepest pockets.
This court is ruling for trial lawyers plain and simple.
"Selling gas to a drunk could make store owners legally responsible for injuries suffered if the intoxicated motorist causes a crash, the state Supreme Court has ruled."
how the hell is a store employee supposed to KNOW if the individual is drunk? what are they gonna do, use a breathalyzer on every customer? what if the individual pays by credit card at the pump????
what IS this b*llsh*t!!????
Huh? It flew out the window long ago and was replaced by lawsuits that are all about making lawyers rich.
Once at the gas pumps, Tarver was too drunk to figure out how to turn the device on, the opinion stated. Two off-duty employees then helped him turn on the pump, according to the opinion. They later watched as Tarver got behind the wheel and drove into the oncoming lane of traffic on Rutledge Pike, the opinion stated.
There's the culpability.
This has nothing to do with personal responsibility. It has everything to do with the first rule of our Tort System: Find the MONEY and Get it ALL!
IF Bush wants to really make a difference in this country He needs to take on the Trial Lawyres.
RamS
Great for your Intern-al combustion.
Here is the problem. If they thought he was too drunk to sell him beer.... Clearly he shouldn't have sold him gas. In babblespeak, this is what enablers do..
But far be it from us to demand that teachers should recognize illegal schoolchildren, and therefore call the cops..
This is negligent behavior. What if the drunk you sold gas to ran into your kids? I'm not saying the attendant was 100% responsible. But he contributed to the accident.
American courts are completely corrupt.
They already do that in Frisco. It's called a bath house.
Okay, this has gone waaaaaaay too far. This DWI situation has turned into a witch hunt. Pure hysteria.
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