Supreme Court Ruling on Drinking at a House Party

I have to say that I support the Canadian Supreme Court's ruling that 'Social Hosts,' i.e. the hosts at a private house party, are not responsible for any of their guests that drive home drunk and get into an accident. This in no way means I condone drinking and driving, I just think that if someone hosts a party and one of their guests gets into accident and is found to be drunk, that the host should not bear unlimited liability for the accident.

A number of years ago, public bars went through this same issue. Their argument was that they should not be held responsible. However, the situation is different in the case of bars, as opposed to the recent ruling. At a bar, you are not allowed to bring outside drinks in, and the alcohol is distributed from a central point. Staff, who are agents of the bar, and have had some experience dealing with patrons and can monitor alcoholic intake of the people they serve, can cut people off when it comes to subsequent drink orders. Therefore, the consumption of alcohol is strictly controlled. Not so, at a house party.

At a house party, the host may provide alcohol, or it might be BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze), or someone might just sneak a bottle in. Since the host cannot entirely control the flow of drinks, how can they have a duty of care to ensure that their guests do not drive home drunk? In fact, if the host was to be find liable, then I would say that every person who attended the party had a similar liability, since they all had the opportunity to observe the actions of a guest and dissuade that person from driving if they had too much to drink. Just think of the anti-drinking and driving campaign slogan of "friends don't let friends drink and drive."

I'm not saying that this should absolve hosts from being responsible in their administering a party. Of course they should do what they can to ensure all their guests, as well as the community at large, are safe. When court judgements are made, the test is what would the "reasonable man" do, i.e. what is common sense? I can get into a whole rant about common sense, but that's for another time. Right now, I'm just saying that party hosts should not have unlimited liability for their guests. If they did, then there wouldn't be any parties because people would be afraid to invite people over. That would be a stark world indeed.

My advice to party hosts: continue throwing parties, but don't let them get too big; make sure you know everybody, or at least know someone who can vouch for guests you don't know; and if the booze is flowing, keep an eye on anyone who seems to be drinking excessively and make sure you ask for their car keys -- better yet, ask 2 or 3 people to help you watch that person.

My advice to party goers: if you're going to drink, don't drive -- take a taxi, get a ride, take transit, or arrange to sleep over; if you see someone at the party drinking excessively, let the host know and keep an eye on them; if you suspect someone is drunk, help the host in deterring them from driving.

I thought we were already living in a culture where it was unacceptable to drink and drive, but obviously there are still many people that do. As with many things, we have to look out for each other. Don't let someone's bravado dissuade you from doing what you know is right.

Wings Over The World