Drunk Driving and Illegal Service of Alcohol to Visibly Intoxicated Patron
A Philadelphia bar – Sweeney’s Saloon in the greater Northeast – over-served alcohol to a drunk driver, and as a result a fifty-three-year-old woman was badly injured and lost her best friend and husband. Sadly, the husband was killed in the collision, and his wife suffered injuries including multiple fractures to her lower extremities requiring debridement and surgery that left her wheelchair bound for an extended period of time.
The drunk driver had just left Sweeney’s where he was drinking. He had drank up to four drinks before he even got to Sweeney’s, and then at Sweeney’s he was served at least a half-dozen more drinks in addition to multiple shots of liquor. An eyewitness to the crash said the drunk driver was weaving in and out of traffic when he struck the right-side rear quarter panel of our clients’ vehicle causing the vehicle to strike the center median and roll over several times.
The drunk driver initially lied to the investigating police. He ultimately confessed to drinking more than ten (10) alcohol drinks before the crash. His blood alcohol concentration was 0.216%, which is more than two-and-a-half times the legal limit for driving.
Prior to trial Mr. Marciano and Mr. MacAvoy obtained for the victims and their family a favorable settlement against the drunk driver and the bar. The bar and drunk driver paid their policy limits of insurance coverage. Further, the bar and drunk driver made contributions to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in the victims’ names.
