The Dram Shop Act, Underage Drinkers, and Your Accident

Many teens don’t wait until they’re 21 to start drinking alcohol. Sometimes, adults supply them with those drinks. They could be parents, or they work at stores or in bars. These adults may know these teens are underage and not care if they’re doing something wrong, or they may negligently serve or sell them alcohol.

These adults and the stores, bars, and restaurants where they work may pay you compensation if they provided alcohol to an underage drinker who caused a vehicle accident and your injuries.

Drinking and Driving are Common Among Those Younger Than 21

There are sobering statistics about underage drinking and driving from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They state that alcohol is the drug most often abused by Americans younger than 21, Kentucky’s legal drinking age. A survey of high school students released in 2024 found that in the 30 days before responding to the questionnaire:

• 22% admitted to drinking alcohol
• 16% stated they were in a vehicle with a driver who had been drinking
• 5% admitted they drove a car after drinking

Underage binge drinking has declined over the years, but it’s now more common among girls than boys.

Kentucky Dram Shop Law

The state’s Dram Shop Act covers situations where an entity licensed to sell alcohol provides drinks to someone who later drives drunk and injures someone. Under Kentucky law, if the customer is of legal age to drink, the party seeking compensation must show the licensee negligently served them:

• They knew or should’ve known the person was intoxicated
• They should’ve prevented them from drinking more but failed to do so

There’s no such complication if the person drinking alcohol and causing the crash was too young to drink legally. It’s illegal for a licensee to provide alcohol to someone younger than 21. The plaintiff (the injured person filing the lawsuit) should show the person wasn’t old enough to drink alcohol legally, they were served anyway, and they later caused the accident.

Kentucky Social Host Responsibility Law, or Lack Thereof

Some states have social host responsibility laws to cover situations where a host gives another person alcohol at their home or event, and they later cause an accident. Kentucky is not one of those states. Kentucky has no social host responsibility equivalent to the.

But the state makes it a crime, a misdemeanor, for someone who “…knowingly sells, gives, purchases or procures any alcoholic or malt beverage in any form to or for a minor.” A defense could be they didn’t know the person was underage. The statute states in part:

“The defendant may prove [as a defense] that the sale was induced by the use of false, fraudulent, or altered identification papers or other documents and that the appearance and character of the purchaser were such that his age could not have been ascertained by any other means and that the purchaser’s appearance and character indicated strongly that he was of legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages.”

If someone is found guilty of this and it involves an underage drinking driver who injures you in an accident, it could be the basis of a civil negligence claim for damages against the party providing the alcohol.

This could be a situation where negligence per se applies. This means someone violating a statute is presumed to be negligent if:

• It’s intended to prevent the kind of harm that happened
• The violation was a substantial factor in causing the accident

Negligence per se may apply in any situation where a law is broken, such as when a person driving recklessly or under the influence of drugs or alcohol causes a vehicle crash and injures you.

Speak To a Satterley & Kelley, PLLC Vehicle Accident Injury Lawyer Today

If you’re the victim of an accident caused by an underage driver impaired by alcohol or another substance, Satterley & Kelley PLLC lawyers can protect your interests and rights to compensation for your injuries and losses. Schedule a free initial consultation so we can discuss your case. Call our Louisville office at 855-385-9532 or complete our contact form if it’s more convenient.