"Andrew Gideon" wrote in message
online.com...
Sam wrote:

Even if someone got
hammered at his party, flew off into the wild blue yonder, and crashed
into a tower 10 mins later I doubt he would be held liable, even in
today's world.

Hmm. Having just read an ePilot message about some family being awarded
money in court from the manufacturer of a vacuum pump that didn't fail,
and
therefore had nothing to do with the crash, I fail to share your optimism
that sanity reigns.

I'd not be shocked to learn that the company that builds the wiring used
in
the generators that power the area in which the party is held
liable...even
if the party was held by candle light.

- Andrew

Your second example is of course a crude troll. Also see _Palsgraf vs.
Long Island Railroad._ The first example is too unless you furnish facts
and a citation to the source of those facts so they can be verified, rather
than your (probably clouded) recollection. I have never seen a judgment
awarded to an injured plaintiff when there wasn't some proof of negligence
or defective design proximately causing the injury. Maybe you can show me
my first. I won't hold my breath waiting.

As for furnishing alcohol to someone likely to cause injury to himself or
others, the dramshop laws and cases are dispositive. As much as I like the
party-giver and join in complimenting him for his contributions in this and
other newsgroups, it is risky to serve alcohol to anyone you know or have
reason to know is about to operate dangerous machinery because of the
dramshop cases and the dramshop laws. Whether the entertainment is done
for pay or not is irrelevant.

8 hours from bottle to throttle, remember? And 24 are recommended. OTOH,
the question is one of reasonableness. If someone drinks a beer and then
flies, does host who served the beer subject himself to liability? I don't
think so.