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10/19/2011
Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
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Bar That Served Drunk Driver Who Killed Bicyclist Settles Wrongful Death Suit With Victim's Family

The family of a teenager who was struck and killed by an off-duty police officer who was driving drunk has reached wrongful death settlements with the at-fault driver and the bar that served the man beer and tequila shots for hours before allowing him to drive away. According to the Hartford Courant, the family has accepted $250,000 from the driver and $170,000 from the bar.

The video posted below notes that criminal charges for vehicular manslaughter and obstruction of justice by the at-fault driver's police detective father who conducted the initial investigation into the fatal DWI/DUI accident are in progress. In light of revelations made during the criminal proceedings, the family of the deceased teen is considering filing additional civil claims for wrongful death and other losses against the City of Windsor Locks, Connecticut (CT), where the crash occurred.

 

Unmentioned in the newspaper article, but key to the family's wrongful death recovery, was the fact that the bar was held liable under Connecticut's dram shop law. A similar statute is on the books in North Carolina (NC). Stated simply, a dram shop law allows the victim of an intoxicated person's negligent and irresponsible actions -- for instance, physical assault, drunk driving or vandalism -- to hold the business that sold the alcohol liable for damages and losses.

Bars, restaurants and convenience or ABC stores do not have strict liability under North Carolina's dram shop law, but evidence that an employee of an alcohol vendor should have recognized that a person was drunk or underaged and refused service or sale or taken other measures to protect that person and other people can help a victim make a case against a business.

As an attorney who has helped several families receive wrongful death compensation from the people responsible for taking the lives of their loved ones, I know no amount of money can replace a brother, father, sister, mother or child. At the same time, I am glad to know that both the drunk driver and the bar responsible for the death of the Connecticut teen were made to pay for their fatal actions.

EJL
 

Category: Carolina Car & Motorcycle Accidents

Labels: ABC store alcohol bar Carolina attorney civil lawsuit Connecticut convenience store Cooper drunk driving DWI/DUI liability North Carolina dram shop law police restaurant teenager killed wrongful death settlement


About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law. We maintain office in Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC), on East Elizabeth Street, and we have handled thousands of cases in which victims got hurt or killed in car, truck, train and motorcycle crashes caused by others' negligence or carelessness.

We serve every area of North Carolina, including Elizabeth City, Edenton, Raleigh, Durham, Rocky Mount, Roanoke Rapids, Greensboro, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Halifax, Northampton,  Greenville, Goldsboro, Havelock, Kinston, New Bern, Tarboro, Wilson, Ahoskie, Currituck, Camden and the Outer Banks towns of Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Manteo, Corolla, Currituck and Dare. In South Carolina, we cover the state from Myrtle Beach and Charleston to Orangeburg, Columbia, Florence, Rock Hill, Darlington, Aiken, Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg.

Firm attorneys Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008 and the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, our firm has been named a North Carolina "Best Law Firm" for personal injury law since 2010 by U.S. News & World Report.

We also offer free special reports on distracted driving and the Best Guide to Car Accident Injuries in North Carolina. 

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultations. Call us toll-free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can get back to you.



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