The Liquor Industry Makes Great Laws

Rob McKinney

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Laws on the liability of liquor stores and bars selling liquor or beer is commonly referred to as dram shop laws. I submit that liquor stores and bars have a duty not to sell alcoholic beverages to an obviously intoxicated person.,but the lawmakers in Nashville think otherwise.The Tennessee Legislature has enacted a number of these dram shop laws which clearly protects them from tort liability rather than protecting the public from drunk drivers. Tennessee Code Annotated Section 57-10-101 makes it nearly impossible for one who has been injured by a intoxicated person to state a claim for negligence against the person or entity who furnished the liquor or beer because the statute removes the required element of causation. Accidents caused by drunk drivers are a serious problem. Why does the legislature give bars immunity from liability on where the sale of alcohol is the reason for the accident ?