In a case of first impression, a Brooklyn appellate panel has held that a driver who struck an intoxicated woman as she walked across a Westchester parkway, and then was sued by the injured woman for negligence, may seek contribution under the Dram Shop Act from the bar where the woman got drunk.
The facts of the case put a wrinkle in the typical Dram Shop analysis. Under the law, because a seller of alcohol has no duty to protect a consumer from her own voluntary intoxication, an intoxicated person may not seek damages from the bar where she drank.
