St. Patrick’s Day is a beloved celebration of Irish culture. It honors Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland (and a man who, despite his global notoriety, has a life shrouded in mystery). The holiday is also associated with a strong drinking culture, which unfortunately tends to mean an increased number of drunk drivers take to the roads as their revelry comes to an end each year.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that during the 2020 St. Patrick’s Day period (March 16 through March 18), more than a third of crash fatalities involved a drunk driver. And, according to the NHTSA, from 2016 to 2020, 287 lives were lost in drunk-driving crashes during the St. Patrick’s Day period.
What these statistics don’t reveal is the devastating impact these losses have on the lives of countless individuals and their families. Here at Yarborough Applegate, we have seen firsthand how the unsafe service, sale, and consumption of alcohol can have catastrophic and life-altering consequences for victims and their loved ones. On this holiday—and every day of the year—it’s paramount that individuals drink responsibly and remember that it’s never okay to drink and drive.
Licensed drinking establishments and alcohol retailers (including bars, restaurants, and convenience stores) also share a responsibility to prevent drunk driving by not over-serving an intoxicated or underage person who then drives drunk and causes an accident. When businesses commit to safe alcohol service—by refusing to sell alcohol to obviously intoxicated persons or minors—they play their part in keeping drunk drivers off the roads and making our communities safer.
Dram shop law is how our team at Yarborough Applegate helps hold drinking establishments and alcohol retailers responsible for unsafe service of alcohol. If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident that was caused by a drunk driver, please reach out to Yarborough Applegate as soon as possible. Our team of compassionate, experienced drunk driving and dram shop attorneys are on your side. We speak for victims. Our results speak for us.