Ruling says gas stations liable

Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | 8/22/5 | JAMIE SATTERFIELD

[SolidRedState]

Which would be a good thing for the defense to point out to the jury

Let's hope so.

[TerryGale]

Hmm.. What about pay at the pump? Unless drunks can't remember enough number sequencing to use the card reader at the pump...

By-pass that newspaper registration, go here...

[WKUHilltopper]

So now it's the common citizen to enforce the laws now? This is BS...let the judge stand around the pumps and enforce it...

[Itzlzha]

Blow, Pump, and Pay.

Must be the new X-42 Krintong Gas & Go...

[patriot_wes]

AMERIKA - RIP!

Death By Juduciary

[Modernman]

These policy arguments are now reduced to closing arguments. So do you think you can sell this in the face of evidence that the guy was falling down drunk and he could have been stopped by a call to the police?

I think that is one of the reasons why the court here ruled that negligence was a possibility.

This situation was akin to selling a loaded gun to a falling-down drunk. It's a pretty extreme case.

[pabianice]

Well, that's it for self-serve stations...

[RJL]

Selling gas to a drunk could make store owners legally responsible for injuries suffered if the intoxicated motorist causes a crash, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

And if they refuse to sell the gas and the guy runs out of gas in the middle of the hiway causing a multi-car pileup and deaths?

Undoubtedly the smart play here was to delay the drunk and call police, but this sounds like a lawyers fishing trip looking for someone with money that they can take.

[balrog666]

Why not shoot the idiot who sold him the car? Or the poltroon who gave birth to him? {/sarcasm}

Those will be the next lawsuits. {/Not sarcasm}

[WHBates]

This isn't about finding fault, it's about finding the deepest pockets.

This court is ruling for trial lawyers plain and simple.

[Stellar Dendrite]

"Selling gas to a drunk could make store owners legally responsible for injuries suffered if the intoxicated motorist causes a crash, the state Supreme Court has ruled."



how the hell is a store employee supposed to KNOW if the individual is drunk? what are they gonna do, use a breathalyzer on every customer? what if the individual pays by credit card at the pump????

what IS this b*llsh*t!!????

[demkicker]

What the HELL ever happened to personal responsibility?

Huh? It flew out the window long ago and was replaced by lawsuits that are all about making lawyers rich.

[cruiserman]

I was ready to wax indignantly until I read this:

Once at the gas pumps, Tarver was too drunk to figure out how to turn the device on, the opinion stated. Two off-duty employees then helped him turn on the pump, according to the opinion. They later watched as Tarver got behind the wheel and drove into the oncoming lane of traffic on Rutledge Pike, the opinion stated.

There's the culpability.

[RamingtonStall]

This has nothing to do with personal responsibility. It has everything to do with the first rule of our Tort System: Find the MONEY and Get it ALL!

IF Bush wants to really make a difference in this country He needs to take on the Trial Lawyres.

RamS

[planekT]

Great for your Intern-al combustion.

[Experiment 6-2-6]

More importantly, the attorneys alleged, employees at the Exxon, owned by East Tennessee Pioneer Oil Co., knew Tarver was drunk - so drunk that a cashier refused to sell him beer.

Here is the problem. If they thought he was too drunk to sell him beer.... Clearly he shouldn't have sold him gas. In babblespeak, this is what enablers do..

But far be it from us to demand that teachers should recognize illegal schoolchildren, and therefore call the cops..

This is negligent behavior. What if the drunk you sold gas to ran into your kids? I'm not saying the attendant was 100% responsible. But he contributed to the accident.

[Michael.SF.]

You did not read the whole article. He was stumbling drunk and reeked of alcohol. The store refused to sell him beer because he was so obviously drunk.

[stinkerpot65]

American courts are completely corrupt.

[ApplegateRanch]

Blow, Pump, and Pay.

They already do that in Frisco. It's called a bath house.

[elkfersupper]

Okay, this has gone waaaaaaay too far. This DWI situation has turned into a witch hunt. Pure hysteria.