Social Host Liability: Drinking and Driving
Tis’ the season of parties and where there are parties, there is usually alcohol. Many people open their homes to friends, family, employees, and clients to celebrate the season. It is imperative for hosts to understand, however, that if you serve alcohol in your home or some other social setting, you could end up facing legal consequences if one of your guests drives drunk and injures someone, or if a guest is under the legal drinking age of 21. Washington State’s social host liability laws (and other similar laws around the country) are in place to put responsibility on hosts not to allow inebriated guests to drive home and to discourage underage drinking parties.
The statistics don’t lie. During the Christmas and New Year period, the average number of fatalities involving an alcohol-impaired driver rise by more than 30 percent, on average.
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