Drinking and Driving

You Booze, You Cruise, You LoseBy: Sarah Mitchell, Hampton Rogers, Ashley Scharf, David Smith, and Megan Wood

FactsEdward Welby brought home champagne and let Danny(16) and Paul(17) drinkPaul Welby drank five glasses of champagne, Danny Foley had at least two glassesPauls parents previously gave Paul permission to drive their carEd and Jean Welby left their house without taking the keys to their car and without telling Paul he wasnt allowed to drive

Facts(continued)Paul went 78 in a 55 speed limit zone and swerved of the road and hit a telephone poleDanny was thrown from the vehicle resulting in cervical spine and spinal cord fractures causing quadriplegia and a traumatic brain injury that left him in a comaPaul had a blood alcohol level of .14(the legal limit for an adult is .08- the legal limit for minors is 0)

Key FiguresEd Welby: Father of Paul Welby; provided minors with alcoholJean Welby: Wife of Ed Welby; previously gave boys permission to drive the car that nightPaul Welby: Son; had five glasses of champagne then drove and wrecked impairing his friend, Danny.

Key Figures(continued)Neal and Ellen Foley: Parents of Danny Foley; suing the Welbys for their sons injuriesDanny Foley: Friend of Paul Welby; also drank and then got in the car with an intoxicated driver(Danny); was thrown from car and serioulsy injured during wreckPolice Officer: Witnessed the car wreck

EventsThe wreck and Dannys injuriesThe fact that Pauls parents gave minors alcohol and left them unsupervised with access to a vehicle

Affidavits and DepositionsDennis Stokes: Police officer that witnessed the wreck; noticed car was speeding and swerving and began to pursue George Baines: Doctor who treated Danny; stated that Danny sustained a traumatic brain injury resulting in a coma; also sustained fractures of the cervical spine and spinal cord. Daniel is dependent on a respirator and receives nourishment through a feeding tube. Not likely to recover

Laws Related to CaseIt is illegal for anyone under 21 to drink alcohol. The only exception is if someone under 21 drinks alcohol at the home of his or her parents or guardians with their permission. However, it is against the law for parents or guardians to provide alcohol to their teenagers friends or other minors in their home.It is illegal for Ed and Jean to provide Danny with alcohol.

Laws Related to Case(Continued)2. It is illegal to sell, give, or provide alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. The only exception to the purchasing and providing sections of the law is if the parents or guardians of minors give alcohol to them in their own homes. However, it is against the law for parents or guardians to provide alcohol to their teenagers friends or other minors in their homes.It was illegal for Ed and Jean to provide alcohol to Danny in their home.

Laws Related to Case(Continued)3. If a person over the age of 21 years gives alcohol to a minor, knowing that person is under 21 years, and then that minor causes damage or injury, the adult who provided the alcohol to the minor is responsible for any damage or injury caused by the minor.Ed and Jean Welby knowingly provided minors (Paul and Danny) with alcohol. Paul, while driving under the influence, crashed his vehicle, injuring Danny. According to the law, Ed and Jean Welby are responsible.

Other Related CasesRasdall vs. Florida2 eighteen year old girls went to the clubAccepted drinks offered by bartenderLeft and were approximately a mile from their dorm when the driver ran off the interstate and killed the passengerDriver was charged with DUI manslaughter

Other Related Cases(Continued)Alred vs. OklahomaSeventeen year old boy was driving home at 4 in the morning with a friend in the passenger seat(16)Driver drove off the road and hit a treeKilled passengerCharged with manslaughter and under aged drinking

Alcohol InformationTraffic crashes in the US involving alcohol killed more than 16,000 people in one year alone, averaging 1 death every 32 minutes.Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15-20 year old Americans, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. In 2000, 3,594 drivers 15-20 years old were killed and an additional 348,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes. Of those killed 30 percent had been drinking.

Alcohol Information(Continued)Alcohol related traffic deaths and injuries cost the country more than 45 billion in lost economic productivity and hospital and rehabilitation costs.The victims of alcohol impaired driving are often the innocent: In one year, 40 percent of those killed in drunk driving crashes were people other than the drinking driver. Most of those killed were passengers in the car with the drinking driver, followed by passengers in cars hit by the drinking driver, and then pedestrians hit by the drinking driver.The National Highway Traffic Saftey Administration estimates that laws setting the minimum drinking age at 21 years have saved 20,043 lives since 1975.

What Should the Outcome of the Case Be? We believe the parents should be held responsible. They gave their son, Paul, permission earlier in the week to drive to the party and because they did not address the fact that he had been drinking and shouldnt drive Paul assumed that it would be okay. When the parents left the keys at the house they enabled the boys to drive under the influence. Because of their talk earlier in the week, it was forseeable that the boys could cause damage under the influence. Since the damage was forseeable the parents must be held accountable for their actions.

Works Citedhttp://arcadiasbest.com/2011/05/wreck-closes-colorado-st/http://www.cracked.com/funny-3604-champagne/http://tabernacleumc.org/ministries/griefshare.htmhttp://www.breathalyzer.net/bactrack-select-s50.htmlhttp://www.carinsurancecomparison.com/do-i-have-to-report-a-car-crash-to-my-insurance-company/http://www.claremontportside.com/print-edition/december-2012-issue/the-band-aid-of-affirmative-action/http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20121115_12_a11_cutlin265206http://abcnews.go.com/2020/t/story?id=7726708&page=1http://www.native-law.com/jurisdiction/subject-matter-jurisdiction-versus-personal-jurisdiction