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No More for the Road: Growing Liability for Bars that Serve Intoxicated Patrons

Posted by Bagby & Associates LLC on 27 September 2012

Last month, two separate wrongful death lawsuits filed in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County highlight the results of drunken driving accidents and the need for drinking establishments to serve with greater responsibility. The parents of Zachary Hartwell, a passenger in Jackass star Ryan Dunn’s Porsche 911, filed a wrongful death suit against Dunn’s estate and Barnaby’s West Chester – the bar that allegedly continued to serve Dunn alcohol even after he appeared intoxicated. Hartwell and Dunn died after Dunn allegedly lost control of his vehicle and violently crashed in West Goshen, PA in 2011.The second lawsuit, filed by the widow of fallen Philadelphia Highway Patrol Officer Brian Lorenzo, names both the alleged driver who struck her husband as well as the Bensalem T.G.I. Friday’s that allegedly served him alcohol in the hours prior to the collision. Lorenzo died in a head-on collision after John D Leck, Jr. reportedly drove the wrong way down I-95 in Philadelphia, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.