Yuanzhe Wang
When it comes to figuring out if a bar should be held liable for drunk driving, it shouldn’t be determined based on how long it is. The problem is that many bars don’t have access to breathalyzers to tell if the person drank beforehand or had no drinks at all. Instead, many bars use an obnoxious alcohol test. If a person starts to act up, then the bartenders are required to stop serving that person drinks. However, this doesn’t work ideally, because there are times in which a person looks fine but then drives and causes an accident. In this case, it’s a grey area of determine whether it was the bar’s fault or the driver’s fault. No amount of time can be set to determine when a bar shouldn’t be liable, instead it should be a circumstantial case.
This would involve the plaintiff to collect evidence that proves that bar was liable. There are cases in which the bar isn’t held responsible. In Jose Santiago vs Oscar Moran, et al., the courts ruled that Oscar Moran and the bar that served him wasn’t deemed liable. Even though Oscar had a blood alcohol content of 0.13 and was a considered drunk, he couldn’t be held liable because the plaintiff couldn’t establish that the bar caused him to be drunk. Instead, no one at bar could tell he was visibly drunk, nor did they do a breathalyzer test to prove it. Thus, the bar couldn’t be held responsible. This shows that you can’t depend on time to determine when a bar is liable, because bars can’t measure blood alcohol content (BAC) to determine if someone is too dangerous to get another drink.
Instead of depending on time, circumstance evidence is better. In Mercado vs Prime 570, et al., this is when you can find the bar liable. Even though the plaintiff was the drunk driver, but he was able to prove that he couldn’t be held liable. What happened was Jason Mercado came back from a softball game with his friends. Jason and his friends were served lots of alcohol, but then when Jason became drunk, he told the bartender to switch to water. But the bartender ignored him and kept serving him drinks. Eventually, the bartender promised to drive him home, but instead she drove him to another bar for additional drinks. Soon, the bartender ditched Jason who fell asleep at the bar. Eventually, he woke up and saw his car keys in front of him. He decided to drive and then got into an accident that led to serious injuries. Ironically, the owners of both bars stated that they can manage their bars on the night of the accident.
This is a clear example when the bar was at fault. The plaintiff proved the bar was negligent. It’s not easy to tell if it’s the drunk driver or bar was at fault, but this should depend on the circumstance. In In Mercado vs Prime 570, et al., it’s clear that the bar was fully liable because they knew the man was drunk but failed to stop him. In Jose Santiago vs Oscar Moran, et al., the bar couldn’t be found at fault, because the bar didn’t know if the driver was drunk, therefore the driver was liable. This is important when it comes to settlement negotiations because the people who needs to pay are insurance companies.
Even if the driver was fully at fault, however their car insurance doesn’t have the funds to pay the whole settlement. Each state has a cap on how much money they should pay in settlements. This is why getting the bar involved matters, because many bars have insurances that can pay for the whole settlement. If anyone can prove that a bar caused the accident, then they can have most or all their settlements covered. This is something that both the attorney and the victims need to consider.
References
- Antezana. “Antezana & Antezana, LLC, Abogados de Accidentes.” Antezana & Antezana LLC, 9 Nov. 2025, https://antezanalaw.com/injured-by-a-drunk-driver-you-may-have-multiple-claims-to-file/. Accessed 26 Dec. 2025.
- “Can a Bar, Restaurant, or Liquor Store Be Held Liable in a Drunk Driving Case?” Nate Amendola Defense, 28 Feb. 2025, https://www.amendolallc.com/faqs/can-a-bar-restaurant-or-liquor-store-be-held-liable-in-a-drunk-driving-case/. Accessed 25 Dec. 2025.
- Jose Santiago v. Oscar Moran, et al. (N.J. Super. Ct. 2024)
- Yona, Kit. “When Are Bars Liable for Overserving Alcohol?” FindLaw, 19 June 2013, https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/personal-injury/when-are-bars-liable-for-overserving-alcohol/.
- Mercado v. Prime 570, Inc. et al. (Monroe Co. Ct., 2013)