Bar Found Negligent in Providing Alcohol to Drunk Driver

Owners of a bar at a Texas golf club have been ordered to pay almost one million dollars to the family of a driver who was killed in a road traffic accident, after they served alcohol to the customer responsible for causing the vehicle collision.

Lance Shelter (42) was tragically killed in a road traffic accident when the car he was driving was in collision with a vehicle driven by a golfer who had been served alcohol when already displaying signs of intoxication.

District Court Judge Dana Womack heard at Fort Worth District Court, Texas, that the Southern Oaks Golf Club in Burleson, Texas had sold 12 cans of beer to Mark Charles Pierce prior to him starting his round of golf.

Southern Oaks employees sold Pierce a further six cans of beer after he had played nine holes, and then a mixed alcoholic drink at the conclusion of his round, despite Pierce showed signs of intoxication. Pierce then drove from the golf club, and was responsible for the accident that killed Lance Shetler, a father of three and inventor of medical devices that benefited children.

Claiming that Lance would still be alive had the Southern Oaks Golf Club adhered to their own policy against over-serving patrons, his family sued the bar owners and won their case – being awarded almost one million dollars in wrongful death compensation by Judge Womack.