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Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania
Teenage Drinking--You Can't Afford It
We have all seen the public service billboards along the highways with the message "DUI--You can't afford it." Most of us have long since received and understood the message as to the costs and consequences of driving under the influence, which derive from a governmental effort in the early 1980's to reduce the incidence of drunken driving. The "legal" blood alcohol level was reduced, and penalties were made more stringent, and in some aspects, mandatory.In earlier times, an arrest for driving while intoxicated was often reduced to "reckless driving" at the magistrate level. This is no longer the case.
A related phenomenon that many of us may have failed to notice is the developing law or perhaps specter of civil liability for underage drinking. Our state government has decided that persons under the age of 21 are incapable of handling alcohol.While we should accept this determination and protect our children out of a sense of love and concern for their safety, sometimes we are motivated by the "bottom line." Accordingly, we need to be aware of what items, including potentially "big ticket items" may go into establishing that ultimate economic cost.
Considerable impetus for civil liability came from a 1983 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision
involving an 18-year-old driver who had attended an employer-sponsored Christmas party where alcohol was furnished.The 18-year-old consumed alcohol, and on his way home from the party, caused a motor vehicle accident.The employer was held to be civilly liable for monetary damages resulting from that accident on the basis of Pennsylvania law, which makes it a misdemeanor to sell or furnish beverage alcohol to a person less than 21 years of age.1
( 1Congini v. Portersville Valve Company, 504 Pa. 157, 470 A.2d 515 [1983]).
While the case recognizing and applying this principle involved an employer, the principle applies to everyone, including parents. It has even been applied to the roommate of a college student on the eve of his 21st birthday. The roommate was civilly liable for damages deriving from his friend's death by acute alcohol poisoning.
While the $1,000 mandatory minimum penalty for a first violation of the law, making it a misdemeanor to furnish alcohol to a minor, may not seem particularly costly to some, civil damages in a death case involving a college-age person can easily exceed one million dollars.
Suppose that your son or daughter decides to host a small party at your home. A few beers from your refrigerator are consumed and something goes wrong. It could be a motor vehicle accident on the way home, alcohol poisoning, a drug/alcohol interaction, date rape, or any one of various other unpleasant scenarios.You could very well find yourself defending a civil lawsuit seeking substantial money damages. Exactly what you did, what you did not do, what you knew, and when you knew it will be examined in laborious detail by the lawyers. The explanation that you were in the other room watching a movie rented from Blockbuster or that you had "gone out to dinner" will probably not be a sufficient excuse.The $1,000 misdemeanor fine for furnishing alcohol to someone under 21 years of age will be a mere trifle.
You could be held civilly liable for allowing and negligently failing to prevent an alcohol-fueled party from occurring at your home. Perhaps an older sibling, such as a college student over the age of 21 but technically still living at home, supplies the alcohol for a party in your home.Clearly, the older sibling is criminally and potentially civilly liable.However, you, as the parents, may be civilly liable as well.
In any situation where your child/teenager is involved with alcohol, there is a potential for a very penetrating inquiry as to its source. If there is injury or damage, the possibility of a civil damage award is a considerable incentive on the part of the injured party, and creates a comparable financial exposure on the part of the supplier/facilitator.
There are other problems and costs that can be associated with underage drinking. For instance, there is an automatic suspension of driving privileges as to anyone under the age of 21 as a consequence of the violation of various laws regarding the purchase, attempted purchase, possession, consumption, etc. of alcoholic beverage notwithstanding the fact that no motor vehicle was involved. If your child does not yet have a driver's license, the law provides that the automatic suspension begins to run on the day your child would otherwise be entitled to apply for a license.
Do any of us really have the time or the inclination to serve as a chauffeur for our 19 or 20 year old? Also, if there was any motor vehicle involvement in the alcohol infraction, your automobile insurance premiums will have been adjusted upwardly, and to a significant degree.
Myths about alcohol and the law include the non-existent "one beer" rule. Pennsylvania law does provide an extremely narrow exception for the consumption of an amount of wine in connection with a religious service in a private home or place of worship where the amount served does not exceed the reasonable, customary or traditional amount and is an integral part of the service or ceremony. This exception does not allow parents to furnish beverage alcohol to their children.
It should also be noted that the blood alcohol level for drunk driving applicableto persons over 21 does not apply to persons under 21.In the case of minors, there is essentially a "zero tolerance" provision of the Motor Vehicle Code, which prohibits a minor from operating a vehicle with any alcohol in his or her system. In the event that your child has been a participant in a religious service and consumed some reasonable, customary or traditional amount as an integral part of the ceremony, you would be well advised not to let them drive. You can rest assured that if your child is caught driving after having consumed alcohol, you will experience a significant increase in your auto insurance premium, even though he or she, only had "one beer."
Alcohol is, unfortunately, often a causative factor in various accidents and is a frequent cause for human suffering.Allowing your teenagers to become involved with alcohol can have profound financial consequences as well.Your teenagers do not need alcohol, and they certainly do not need the consequences. Besides, you can't afford it!
Written by Daniel C. Lawson, Esquire,
a member of the Upper St. Clair Youth Steering Committee.