St. Louis, MO — A drunk driving accident in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sunday, May 25, 2014, injured two people. The accident took place on Interstate 55.
Missouri State Trooper Jeremy Potocki had pulled a car over on the side of the road. As he got out of his patrol car, it was hit by Michael Haley, which in turn hit Potocki.
Potocki and the driver of the second vehicle sustained non-life threatening injuries and are expected to make full recoveries.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
Drinking and getting behind the wheel of a vehicle is a bad idea, exactly for this reason. Of course, if the driver was drunk, then he would be liable for the accident. If the driver was perhaps drinking at a local bar, and it could be proven that he was being served liquor even while visibly intoxicated — “visibly intoxicated” here meaning that he showed significant physical dysfunction — then the bar would share in some of the liability. This is part of Missouri’s dram shop laws, which help regulate the safe selling of alcohol.
The point of these laws isn’t to take responsibility away from drunk drivers, but to also make bars and restaurants liable, in cases in which they serve alcohol to those who should have been cut off.
— Grossman Law Offices
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