Wisc. Court Hears Designated-Driver Liability Case December 18, 2001
News Summary
The Wisconsin Supreme Court will decide whether a man who failed to live up to his promise to be a designated driver should be held liable for a woman's death in a drunk-driving crash, the Associated Press reported Dec. 11.John Kreuser had promised Michael Devine a ride home from a company party in December 1998 after a bartender said Devine was too drunk to drive. But Devine ended up driving himself, crashing head-on into a car driven by Kathy Stephenson. Both Devine and Stephenson were killed.
Stephenson's husband sued Kreuser and Universal Metrics Inc., the company that sponsored the party. Under Wisconsin law, people who sell or dispense alcoholic beverages have immunity from civil lawsuits. As a result, both a circuit court and appeals court ruled that University Metrics could not be held liable for the crash.
Kreuser's attorney, Jim Fredericks, has also asked the state Supreme Court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying a designated driver should not be held liable for the alcohol-related traffic death. Fredericks said the same right given to servers under state law should be extended to a designated driver who fails to fulfill that promise.
Mike Bertling, the attorney for Ricky Stephenson, countered that, "If a person is going to fill the shoes of a designated driver, they should understand the seriousness of that responsibility."
COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE: