Legal Question in DUI Law in Louisiana

Re: liability for injury

In very rare circumstances, a bar can be held liabile, but not usually. Unless the bar served the person after the person was obviously very intoxicated, the bar has no liability at all. The fault lies with the person who decided to get behind the wheel drunk, not with the bar that served him.

It is a slippery slope to assign liability or fault to someone for the actions of another person. It is a very old legal and philisophical argument that has been going on for many years. Do guns kill people or do people kill people? Are you your brother's keeper...legally? They are tough questions.

Bartenders are trained to cut people off when they become obviously intoxicated and to call cabs for people who ask. Most bars go beyond those minimum standards by offering free colas and non-alcoholic drinks to designated drivers. That's about all they can do. They can't follow customers out or take their keys from them any more than you could. The person drinking has to make their own choices and suffer their own consequences if they choose poorly.