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Outrageous--Kid Drinks with Friends, Gets Hurt and Sues Friend's Mother

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Published: 19Mar2009
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Just when I think I have seen it all, another outrageous lawsuit story comes across my desk! This time it involves an underage drinker, a 19-year-old man from Illinois who visits the home of two friends, drinks alcohol while he is there, gets in a car with another intoxicated driver, and end up paralyzed in a car accident. A tragic injury, no doubt.

Guess what he did! Found someone to sue. Of course. This is America, right. If you hurt yourself doing something stupid you should sue, right?

Clearly a case of bad judgment. So who is bearing the legal responsibility for the teen's mistakes? The driver of the vehicle? The teen himself? No, it's the mom of the girls he was visiting! It seems that, according to the lawsuit, although she did not buy or serve alcohol or even know the kids were drinking, she should have monitored the teenagers more carefully in her own home. It wasn't enough that she could trust her own kids to use good judgment, but she is required to pry? And if she doesn't, she gets sued?

The girls' mother's insurance will pay a $2.5 million settlement. (Ever wonder why insurance rates keep going up?)

Although laws differ from state to state, some common-sense thinking should universally apply here. For instance, if someone has been drinking and gets in a car with someone else who has been drinking, and the predictable car accident happens, he should not be able to recover money damages from a third party. He is an irresponsible teenager making his own bad decisions and ends up with devastating injuries. That is no one's fault but his. Seems pretty clear cut to me.

Yet this "blame game," which clogs our courts with frivolous lawsuits, is more and more common these days as parents raise children to make excuses for why nothing is their fault, teach them to point the finger at someone else, and shelter them from both short-term and long-term consequences. This generation is learning to play the victim, instead of rising up to take responsibility for their actions and really learn from their mistakes. This case would not fly in Virginia, as the mother would not have liability if she did not know there was drinking taking place in her home. A parent might be criminally liable (and parents have gone to jail for a long time in Virginia for serving alcohol to minors) but no one who gets into a car with someone they just spent the evening drinking with should be able to sue anyone!

Ben Glass is a personal injury attorney in Virginia. He is the author of seven books, including "Five Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Car Accident Case." BenGlassLaw.com

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