We all know that teen driver car accidents are far more common than collisions caused by older drivers. Add alcohol to the equation and that worry increases exponentially, especially for parents. Underage drinking parties are all-too common these days, however, and the issue of culpability has become a complex point of contention in numerous teen drinking and driving lawsuits around the country.
Massachusetts has addressed at least part of the underage drinking and driving equation, with a new social host liability law. In early 2012, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that if teens host underage drinking parties but do not provide the alcohol consumed at the party, that they cannot be held responsible by a civil court if an inebriated guest is injured. See File insurance claim in Massachusetts
The case that instigated the ruling involved a 16-year old girl who was seriously injured in a driving under the influence car accident in 2007, and Boston, Springfield, Worcester-area personal injury attorney Mark E. Salomone has followed it closely. The girl’s boyfriend, who was the driver of the car in which she was a passenger, had consumed alcohol at a party that had been hosted by a 19-year old girl. The host, whose father was not home during the gathering, did not provide any of the alcohol that the driver had consumed; he had brought his own 30-pack of beer and a bottle of rum to the event.
