Driving Under the Influence(DUI) and Driving While Intoxicated(DWI) are serious charges. They can result in jail time, loss of driving privileges and heavy fines.
A New Jersey DWI attorney can help someone charged with DUI. Moreover, a recent New Jersey Supreme Court ruling may have added a weapon to the DUI/DWI accused attorney’s arsenal.
The Fredrick Voss case
In 2006 Fredrick Voss, of Brick Township in South Jersey, rode his motorcycle to Tiffany’s Restaurant in Tom’s River. While there, he drank his way to a 0.196 BAC which is nearly two and a half times the legal limit. Voss then left the bar on his motorcycle and got into a traffic accident.
Voss pled guilty to the DWI charge but claimed that he was injured in the accident and should be compensated by Tiffany’s Restaurant because they continued to serve him alcohol when he was visibly intoxicated and then allowed him to leave on his motorcycle.
Voss’s attorney argued that the case should be allowed to go forward under the New Jersey Dram Shop Act, which provides for civil judgments if one is served alcohol negligently. Technically speaking, the text of the Dram Shop Act states that drunk driving victims may sue establishments that the accused was patronizing prior to the traffic accident.
The owners of Tiffany’s Restaurant argued that legally drunk drivers can’t be compensated for injuries received while operating a vehicle with a BAC over the legal limit. However, the court ruled that the law barring drunken drivers from recovering damages resulting from their intoxication was meant to reduce automotive insurance premiums, and not the insurance premiums of establishments that serve alcohol, therefore, implying that a suit against a bar could move forward.
The court reached a 5-2 decision ruling that Voss did have to be compensated by Tiffany’s Restaurant. The judge who ruled in favor of Voss argued that this set a precedent for liquor establishments to be more cautious in how much alcohol they serve to their customers, particularly those who have driven to or will be driving from the establishment.
A Public Policy consideration
In the Frederick Voss case, the court found its conclusion bolstered and encouraged by public-policy consideration. The case long recognized the senseless chaos, havoc and destruction caused by intoxicated drivers and the strong public policy in the immediate removal of drunk drivers from the highways. The opinion of the court found that discouraging drunk driving was surely a purpose of the laws and statutes involved in this case.
Drivers who feel their consumption of alcohol may make them partly at fault should contact experienced Criminal lawyers who can provide up-to-date advice on how to proceed against liquor establishments and protect the drivers’ interests. It is also important to point out that in cases similar to Frederick Voss, there is only so much a DWI attorney can do for the client, and this particular case is probably just an outlier.
