sebberry | 11-29-2009 11:07 AM | Quote:
Originally Posted by zulutango
(Post 6704830)
If there is a civil trial and the Court knows what you did, you may find yourself liable for some part. I investigated 2 fatal crashes where the exact scenario you mentioned happened. The party hosts saw it happen and let the driver leave. | What was the outcome in that case?
In the case of Jeffield, he argued at length with his friend to stop him from drinking and driving. Quote:
In Childs v. Desormeaux, Dwight Courrier and Julie Zimmerman
hosted a “BYOB” (Bring Your Own Booze) event.
One of their guests, Mr. Desormeaux, drove away from the
party while intoxicated. Mr. Courrier confirmed with Mr.
Desormeaux whether he was okay, and there was no evidence
that Mr. Desormeaux displayed signs of intoxication
during their brief conversation.
Soon after driving away from the party, Mr. Desormeaux
collided head-on with another vehicle. Several of the passengers
in the other car were injured, and one was killed.
The action was brought by one of the individuals injured in
the accident, Zoe Childs, against the hosts of the party.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Canada
held that “as a general rule, a social host does not owe a
duty of care to a person injured by a guest who has consumed
alcohol.” In the Court’s view, holding a private party at which alcohol
is served, is insufficient to implicate the host in the creation
of risk sufficient to give rise to a duty of care to third
parties who may be subsequently injured by the conduct
of a guest. | Source (PDF FILE) http://www.robinsapplebyandtaub.com/...ons/pdf/36.pdf
To an intoxicated individual, small things like having a parked car towed or class 7N overcrowding can be major stumbling blocks (pun intended) to finding a safer ride home.
Partly why I feel that towing and immobilization of vehicles should be illegal and why I feel that 7N passenger limits should be enforced with discression.
The public safety minister can talk about driver distractions leading to 7N passenger restrictions all he wants, but it really isn't hard to tune out excited passengers. |