Has anyone else noticed how sound and reasonable Southern courts and juries are compared to the Left Coast?
Delta not liable for drunk passengers driving
By BILL RANKIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/16/05
The Georgia Supreme Court today ruled that Delta Air Lines cannot be held liable for serving alcohol to intoxicated passengers who get into auto accidents on the drive home.
In a 6-1 decision, the court said the Georgia Dram Shop Act, which has been used by victims who have been injured or killed by drunken patrons driving away from bars and restaurants, does not apply to commercial airlines. The law says anyone who serves alcohol to a noticeably intoxicated person while knowing that person will soon be driving may be held liable for an accident.
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With restaurants and bars, the court said, it is likely that patrons will be leaving in their cars. But the "proximate connection between the consumption of alcohol by an airline passenger during a flight and his subsequent act of drunk driving is much more remote and attenuated," the court said.
"An airline has no control over its passengers' activities once they have deplaned, and many factors, such as customs and baggage claim, can affect the length of time between consuming alcohol and actually departing the airport," Justice George Carley wrote for the majority. "In fact, those passengers scheduled on connecting flights presumably will remain at the airport, whereas those who do leave have a variety of options other than driving themselves to their ultimate destination."
If the state Supreme Court had ruled against Delta, it would have made Georgia the first state to allow airlines to be sued for serving alcohol to intoxicated passengers who get into accidents on the drive home.
The case was brought by Jack Townsend, who was driving home in north Fulton County in 2001 when a drunken driver crossed the center line, causing a head-on collision. After Townsend, who was severely injured, learned the driver drank wine on a Delta Air Lines flight home from Milwaukee, he sued the Atlanta-based carrier.
Townsend was a 25-year-old college graduate who was in the process of getting certified as a schoolteacher at the time of the March 29, 2001, accident. He was driving home in his Ford Focus at 10:30 p.m. on State Bridge Road when a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo crossed the center line at a curve.
Townsend suffered severe head and orthopedic injuries and has run up more than $1 million in medical bills, his lawyer, Irwin Stolz, said in a prior interview. He is no longer able to drive, lives with his parents, and has short-term memory loss. The only job he is able to hold is serving soft drinks at a Chick-fil-A restaurant, Stolz said.
Townsend sued Delta and the driver, James Serio, a youth pastor and computer software salesman. Two years ago, Serio, 50, pleaded guilty to DUI, driving on the wrong side of the road and causing serious injuries with his motor vehicle. At the urging of Townsend's family, Serio was sentenced to probation and ordered to undergo alcohol treatment and perform 100 hours of community service.
Delta not liable for drunk passengers driving
By BILL RANKIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/16/05
The Georgia Supreme Court today ruled that Delta Air Lines cannot be held liable for serving alcohol to intoxicated passengers who get into auto accidents on the drive home.
In a 6-1 decision, the court said the Georgia Dram Shop Act, which has been used by victims who have been injured or killed by drunken patrons driving away from bars and restaurants, does not apply to commercial airlines. The law says anyone who serves alcohol to a noticeably intoxicated person while knowing that person will soon be driving may be held liable for an accident.
http://www.ajc.com/shared-local/images/1pix_trans.gif
With restaurants and bars, the court said, it is likely that patrons will be leaving in their cars. But the "proximate connection between the consumption of alcohol by an airline passenger during a flight and his subsequent act of drunk driving is much more remote and attenuated," the court said.
"An airline has no control over its passengers' activities once they have deplaned, and many factors, such as customs and baggage claim, can affect the length of time between consuming alcohol and actually departing the airport," Justice George Carley wrote for the majority. "In fact, those passengers scheduled on connecting flights presumably will remain at the airport, whereas those who do leave have a variety of options other than driving themselves to their ultimate destination."
If the state Supreme Court had ruled against Delta, it would have made Georgia the first state to allow airlines to be sued for serving alcohol to intoxicated passengers who get into accidents on the drive home.
The case was brought by Jack Townsend, who was driving home in north Fulton County in 2001 when a drunken driver crossed the center line, causing a head-on collision. After Townsend, who was severely injured, learned the driver drank wine on a Delta Air Lines flight home from Milwaukee, he sued the Atlanta-based carrier.
Townsend was a 25-year-old college graduate who was in the process of getting certified as a schoolteacher at the time of the March 29, 2001, accident. He was driving home in his Ford Focus at 10:30 p.m. on State Bridge Road when a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo crossed the center line at a curve.
Townsend suffered severe head and orthopedic injuries and has run up more than $1 million in medical bills, his lawyer, Irwin Stolz, said in a prior interview. He is no longer able to drive, lives with his parents, and has short-term memory loss. The only job he is able to hold is serving soft drinks at a Chick-fil-A restaurant, Stolz said.
Townsend sued Delta and the driver, James Serio, a youth pastor and computer software salesman. Two years ago, Serio, 50, pleaded guilty to DUI, driving on the wrong side of the road and causing serious injuries with his motor vehicle. At the urging of Townsend's family, Serio was sentenced to probation and ordered to undergo alcohol treatment and perform 100 hours of community service.
