Can I Sue an Illinois Bar That Served Too Much Alcohol to the Drunk Driver Who Hit Me?

 Posted on November 05, 2024 in Personal Injury

A car accident can have serious consequences, especially when the person who caused the accident was driving while drunk. Physical injury, emotional trauma, vehicle damage, and long-term medical care are all too common after a bad drunk driving incident.

Although the drunk driver is often the person facing a lawsuit, the bar at which the driver got drunk may, under certain circumstances, also be held responsible for the accident, and potentially the bartender as well.

If you have suffered personal injury in a car crash caused by someone driving under the influence, an experienced Joliet, IL personal injury lawyer from Schwartz Injury Law can help you take legal action.

Statistics on Drunk Driving Accidents in Illinois and the United States

Every 79 seconds, someone is killed or injured in a drunk driving crash, with about 31 percent of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States involving drunk drivers. Each day, about 37 people across the United States will die in a drunk driving crash, or one person every 39 minutes.

In the state of Illinois, 330 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2021, making up about 25 percent of all crash fatalities in Illinois. There were almost 22,000 drivers in the state who lost their driving privileges as a result of DUI arrests, with about a quarter of these being females. Males between the ages of 25 and 34 had the highest DUI arrest rate across the state.

What Is Illinois’ Dram Shop Law? 

All states have laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors, or so-called "dram shop" laws. Most states, including Illinois, combine these laws with statutes that allow bars, restaurants, and other establishments that serve and sell alcohol to an intoxicated person to be held liable for injuries caused by that person’s actions when they leave the premises.

Each state’s dram shop law is slightly different. In Illinois, the Liquor Control Act or "Dram Shop Act" allows commercial vendors to be held liable for damages or injuries caused by a drunk driver so long as the following criteria are met: 

• The vendor, such as a bar or restaurant, sold alcohol to the person who caused the injury or damages.

• The service of alcohol contributed to or caused the person’s intoxication.

• The intoxication was the proximate (direct) cause of the victim’s injuries (for example, if a drunk driver’s intoxication caused them to run a red light and hit another car).

The Liquor Control Act allows bartenders and waiters who served the intoxicated individual to be held liable, as well as the owner, renter, or lessee of the establishment where the alcohol was sold. To be clear, if the question is, can a bartender be held responsible for overserving a customer who then goes on to injure another person during a DUI accident, the answer is yes, he or she can be held liable.

In a very crowded, noisy bar with multiple bartenders and servers, it may be more difficult to hold a bartender liable, but the establishment can be held liable for the actions of its employees.  Likewise, if a clearly intoxicated person walks into a corner store and buys alcohol, the attendant and the corner store owner may be held liable.

Proving Establishment Liability

Bars, restaurants, and other establishments that sell alcohol must do so responsibly. However, to have any liability in a dram shop liability lawsuit, the party bringing the lawsuit must prove that the establishment knew, or should have known, that the drunk person was intoxicated but kept serving them alcohol.

Eyewitness testimony may be helpful, as can recordings from the establishment’s security cameras. Bartenders and establishments will commonly claim they were unaware of a person’s level of intoxication or were unaware the person was driving. For a dram shop claim, you must only show that:

• The establishment sold alcohol to the person in question.

• The sale of alcohol resulted in intoxication.

• The intoxicated person then caused an accident with injuries because of his or her level of intoxication.

What is Negligence Per Se, and How Does a Drunk Driver Make It Easier to Collect Compensation?

Negligence per se presumes that a person is negligent if they cause injury to another person and they also violate a law. The four elements of negligence per se include:

• A statute or regulation that is designed to protect others from harm was violated by the defendant.

• The violation of the statute or regulation resulted in injuries to another person.

• The harm suffered by the person was the type of harm the statute was meant to prevent.

• The injured person is a member of the class of people the statute was intended to protect.

Being a member of a class of people that a statute is meant to protect is relatively straightforward with traffic violations. Traffic laws and criminal laws involving traffic violations (like DUI laws) are designed to prevent injuries to drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and passengers. It must be shown that it is more likely than not that the defendant’s violation of the law was the proximate cause of your injuries.

In a negligence per se case, it is not up to a jury to determine the standard duty of care under the circumstances or how a reasonable person would have behaved because the defendant broke the law. Negligence per se makes it much easier to collect damages following a DUI accident that caused your injury.

What Types of Damages Are Recoverable in a Drunk Driving Accident?

If a drunk driver injures another person, that person can sue for damages, including economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are those that have a clear dollar amount attached, like medical expenses, lost wages, and future lost wages. Non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify because pain and suffering are subjective.

Pain and suffering damages include actual physical pain as well as emotional pain and trauma. In the case of injury caused by a drunk driver, the injured party may also be able to recover punitive damages because the driver willfully chose to drive drunk, putting others at risk.

Can a Wrongful Death Claim Be Filed Following a Drunk Driving Accident?

If a drunk driving accident causes the death of another person, the family of that person can file a wrongful death claim. Wrongful death claims are not only intended to pay expenses like medical costs and funeral and burial costs but are also meant to compensate the family financially for the money the decedent would have earned and contributed to the household had he or she lived. Pain and suffering damages are also possible when it can be shown that the loss of love, companionship, and care occurred with family members as a result of the death.

Call a Kendall County, IL Personal Injury Lawyer

If you or someone you love has been injured because someone got drunk and decided to drive, consider getting help from an experienced Will County, IL personal injury attorney with Schwartz Injury Law. We take every case seriously and are committed to aggressively representing our clients so they can get the compensation they are legally entitled to.

We have major multimillion-dollar settlements to our credit, are highly experienced, have a stellar reputation, and are always prepared to go to trial when necessary. Contact Schwartz Injury Law at 708-888-2160 to schedule your free confidential consultation.