Would you call the Police?

[nissangirl74]

...if you were a bartender and a customer insisted on driving himself home from the bar, while intoxicated?
This woman did, and she lost her job. Do you think she should have lost her job?

"DeVito said she does not regret calling police.
"If he had gotten in a wreck that would have been on me, because I was on my shift," said DeVito. "It was in a lose-lose situation. I choose to possibly save a life."
She said she would do it again, if she could."


http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/oh ... ories.html

I would have done the same thing. An innocent person's life is worth way more than a job. I do find this comment interesting though:

So she called police, who found the patron driving with a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit, according to Shelby Police Chief Charles Roub.
The patron was issued a citation for operating a vehicle under the influence, according to a police report.

Is it just me or do you think he deserved a harsher punishment for being over twice the legal limit?

[Jesda]

In the article she claimed there was no cab. Maybe one wasn't parked outside the bar waiting for customers, but she could have called one for him instead of letting him walk out the door and drive. It's not a legal obligation in most states but as a bartender she should have noticed he was hammered and asked him how he was getting home first (maybe she did, article doesn't say). I assume the American Legion is less crowded than, say, some of the collar-popping d-bag hangouts I've been to which are typically packed from wall to wall, so she must have noticed his level of intoxication.

I've had bartenders hand me the keys of people who were too hammered (people I know, of course) so I could give them a ride home.


Perhaps she could have handled the situation differently, but I don't think firing her was a wise or fair thing to do.

[Bubba1]

If I was the bar owner, and I could not get the keys away from a clearly blotto patron, I'd probably call. Although the bartender seemed to do the right thing about warning the police, at the same time, she also might have put the bar at risk by serving the guy more than he could handle and then letting him drive. Perhaps many of you are unaware that in half the states, there are "social host" laws where retaurants/bars, even homeowners are held legally responsible for the actions of intoxicated guests after they leave your party venue. I'm guessing the bartender was fired because if that visibly drunk patron had killed someone in a while driving home drunk, the victim (or their surviving family) could have sued the bar that let him get that way, especially social host law states. .. Can't ignore we live in a lawsuit crazy society..

[Loki]

Is it just me or do you think he deserved a harsher punishment for being over twice the legal limit?

I gotta wonder if he knew someone with influence. The drunk driver that hit me only lost his license for about a month, despite causing a near fatality on his second DUI. Oh, and he went on to hit a tree while drunk a few years later. Helps to be in the Air Force and be a family friend of the fire chief I guess.

[WDRacing]

From another stand point, one probably less popular, we have to realize that the vast majority of people that drive to a bar and have a few drinks, usually drive home. That's just fact. It doesn't take that many drinks to reach double the legal BAC limit. Depending on your weight and other varying factors, 2 drinks in one hour will put a lot of people over the legal limit. Every body metabolizes alcohol at a different rate. So assuming someone is in a bar for 3 hrs, it's very easy to reach double the limit. At .08, which is the considered too drunk to drive, the effects felt are that of a light buzz. Most people don't stop at 2 drinks.

There is no justification for drunk driving. But it's a crime that is committed daily, in huge numbers. Baring that in mind, the bar owner isn't going to want his bartenders calling the cops on all of their patrons. Why would anyone frequent an establishment that calls the cops on it's customers? I can guarantee that the vast majority don't go there, drink and then wait until their body has metabolized all of the alcohol they've consumed making it legal for them to drive.

Bartenders with a conscience need to stop serving patrons more than 2 drinks an hour.

In reality, bartenders serve what is ordered, when it's ordered. People drink and then they drive. Bartenders that call the cops will soon find themselves unemployed.

[Dattebayo]

Damn straight she got fired, she should have been doing her job right in the first place. Bartenders are supposed to monitor how much people have had to drink. The ones who let you get hammered are only extending a courtesy to you. They have all the power to dole out the booze, so it makes them responsible when someone gets too hammered. Her calling the police was just stupid, she should have refused the guy more drinks a long time before it became a legal issue. And furthermore, they should have cited her as well since she was an accomplice.

As far as making his penalty worse, it's a little sh*t-hole town in central Ohio. I would have been satisfied if they threw him in jail for a couple days. I've never been a fan of first-time heavy penalties. Ruining someone's life because of bad judgement one time is stupid IMO. Repeating your mistakes is when you show you have no respect for the law.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Playing Devil's advocate for the bartender, we don't know if the guy showed up drunk to the bar already.

I have personally witnessed a guy come into a bar, order a drink, drink half of it and then spill it all over himself because he was too drunk. The bartender then attempted to serve him some water (and obviously cut him off of booze). Dude pulled a flask out and immediately got kicked out of the bar.

They didn't call the cops on him, but someone else did when they found him dancing in the middle of the road or doing some other dumb drunk shenanigans that was disturbing the peace. He said he came from the bar we were at. Luckily I saw the whole thing go down and could vouch for the bartender's story, or else he would have been in big trouble.

Personally, if I were the bartender, I'd call a taxi, or the fire department (depending on the department). They are more interested in helping people than screwing them over. Some fire fighters are happy just to get out and about instead of sitting around at the station the whole time.

[Ace2cool]

And that's an option in a small town.

I would have asked for some help "keeping the guy from driving" while calling a cab. Most bartenders are good enough at their job to have a couple "god ole boys" on their side capable of "talking some sense" into a belligerent tard like this.

[gwoods]

It is hard to keep track of how much people are drinking. I have a buddy who many years ago we took out after work for his bday. About 2 hours later he was in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Almost everyone in our 100 person office had showed up and we all bought him a drink (flamming DR Pepper from me). I don't drink so me and another sober person followed the ambulence and waited while he got sobered up via IV. Drove him home in his own car with the other sober guy following to drive me back to my car.

I think people are responsible for their own actions. She should have tried to stop him and if that failed yes call the police. This guy should be thanking the bartender and helping her get her job back. She may have saved his life, may have saved another life and hopefully the entire thing will be a wake up call for him.