Host not responsible?

Question

at my wedding can we have the guests sign something saying that they will not hold the host responsible if they chose to drink and drive. We decided not to provide the alcohol, but i dont want to be responsible for the people who wont get a DD.

Answer 1

If you are not serving alcohol then you have nothing to worry about. If someone brings in alcohol and gets drunk it is their problem. Having your guests sign something is really not a good idea and is in bad taste.

Answer 2

I concur with the previous post. If you're not providing the alcohol, then you have no duty to protect yourself with a waiver. I've been to more than my fair share of weddings and parties and I've never had to sign a waiver, even when alcohol is provided. If someone chooses to bring their own alcohol, it is their superseding independent action and they (not you) would bear any liability for it.

All the same though, it would be a good idea for you and your groomsmen and bridesmaids to keep an eye out for someone who is obviously drunk and prevent them from driving. Regardless of what the law says you have to do, the bottom line is to keep drunk people from driving.

What you're thinking of is called social host liability. The basic idea is that you (as an individual) have a duty to protect people at your party from driving drunk if you provide alcohol, but its a very low duty. It depends on the state, but I believe your responsibility normally does not extend beyond preventing someone who is obviously drunk from trying to drive. Taking said person's keys away is normally sufficient.

The duty is much higher if, on the other hand, you run a bar or restaurant. If you do, you're presumed to know qualitatively how many drinks a person should be able to handle before being too drunk to drive because you're around alcohol and alcohol-consuming people all day. (A social host, on the other hand, is less-experienced and thus is held to a lower duty). The same duty applies to your waitstaff (bartenders, waitresses, etc). In many states, I believe the law actually requires a bar/restaurant to refuse to serve a customer who is obviously drunk.