From the first day of university it’s drilled into students’ heads that drinking responsibly falls on their shoulders alone. However, there is a degree of responsibility on servers in bars to prohibit serving drinks to drunken people, especially if they’re driving.
Granted, every student should know their limit and do their best to stay in control. Getting behind the wheel or even in the car with a person who has had a few too many drinks is a poor decision.
This case hits close to home. In 2008 five Carleton students were involved in a triple-fatal crash when their car ran a red light and got hit by an OC Transpo bus after a night of drinking. Now, a survivor of the crash is suing the City of Ottawa and the undergraduate and graduate students’ associations that run Carleton’s campus bars.
It’s not the first time that a bar has been sued in Canada for allowing a drunk driver to get behind the wheel.
When cases like these are successful, it leaves the impression that people who drink and drive can depend on others to prevent their poor decisions.
Servers should always deny intoxicated people entry into a bar and never grant a customer alcohol when they are clearly incapacitated. Still, it’s not always possible to tell when someone’s reached their limit or whether or not they’re planning to drive home.
The bars were packed on St. Patrick’s Day, a holiday notorious for the colour green, general merriment and of course, a pint of Guinness. Though drunkenness isn’t a precursor to the holiday, we should all learn from this tragedy to become more responsible when drinking. Always make sure to bring a designated driver for the night or have a friend who will watch over you if you plan on drinking for the night.