There may be some civil liability, if someone drinks to the point of being drunk and the bar doesn’t take steps to protect them or stop them from driving. But if someone’s just impaired, the bartenders may or may not be able to tell. There’s usually no liability or responsibility on their part.
Fact or Fiction: Are Most People Stopped for DUIs Not Actually Driving Drunk?
The bartenders would have to know that they’re over-serving the patron and that this patron was a danger to themselves or others. Typically, this is not a situation that comes up in a DUI case. This is because most people who are stopped for driving under the influence are not, in fact, drunk driving.
Over Time, Legislation Has Been Amended to Lower the Legal Limit and May Be Amended Further in the Near Future
Laws have been extensively amended over time. Now when we are looking at levels for impairment, they have evolved from having no level to a .15, to a .10, and now to a .08.
There’s a lot of pressure on the legislators right now to push the level down even further to a .05. Have just one or two drinks, and that will basically put you to the point where you’d be considered DUI.