My son was injured in a one car accident. He was with a group of friends that had come from a party. My son and his friends had drunk beer. The driver lost control of the car and hit a guardrail injuring everyone in the car. I was really upset to learn that my underage son and his friends drank beer at a party at a kid’s house that my son did not even know. Can I make a claim against those parents?

Your question touches on numerous issues covered in other posts.

One issue would be the liability of a passenger (your son) for getting into a car with a drunk driver. It would be important to find out how drunk the driver was and how much did your son see the driver drink before he entered the car.

Another issue would be the driver’s liability. If your son got into a car with an underage driver there could be an issue. But I am assuming from your question that this is a group of teenage boys. Thus, even if the driver was underage, he still will probably be responsible for the accident. As explained in the prior post, New York holds minors to the standard of a reasonably prudent teenage boy. A teenage boy with the ability to borrow a car and drive his friends around all evening, will probably be responsible for the act of driving drunk. So you can make a claim against the driver.

Dram Shop Liability

You asked directly about suing the parents of the kid that hosted this party and dispensed beer to minors. One prior post dealt with the responsibility of a bar serving alcohol to a minor. Another prior post concerned a bar serving a drunk driver. The relevant statute is General Obligations Law § 11-100. That statute states that there will be liability against any person who knowingly causes intoxication or impairment by unlawfully furnishing to or unlawfully assisting in procuring alcoholic beverages for such person under 21, with knowledge or reasonable cause to believe that such person was under the age of twenty-one years. So if you can prove those elements, the parents of the kid hosting the party would be responsible for the drunk driving accident.

A major consideration if this statute applies would be the participation of the hosting parents. If the party was held when the parents were out of town and the parents did not purchase or furnish beer, they would not be responsible. Lane v Barker, 241 AD2d 739, 660 NYS2d 194 (3d Dept 1997) and Reickert v Misciagna, 183 AD2d 151, 590 NYS2d 100 (2d Dept 1992).

So, I cannot give you a direct answer to your question. The case would need to be further investigated.

By James Santner, Esq.

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