A Tampa DUI attorney may not like it but law enforcement agencies and their officials are asking people who have been pulled over and are being processed under the DUI laws, ‘Where did you have your last drink?”
When an individual who has been drinking and driving is pulled over by a police officer and are found to be over the legal limit for intoxication and operating their motor vehicle, they are promptly arrested and taken to the closest jail. The question regarding their last drink, if it is a licensed establishment, is compiled in a database and used by a ‘Last Drink’ program in which the establishment that is listed the most is ‘checked out’ to see if they continue to serve alcohol to intoxicated patrons, thus further contributing to a public safety issue.
Several states currently have a ‘Last Drink’ task force, including Oregon, New Jersey, Washington and Texas. Iowa and several other states are in the process of forming their own taskforces to see if the problem of ‘over watering’ can be stopped.
According to a Tampa criminal attorney, many alcohol serving establishments could have there licenses revoked or face severe fines or even jail time if a person they served their last drink to is in a drunk driving accident that causes bodily injury or a fatality. In addition to the establishment – the bar or restaurant – facing charges, the individual who served the person their last drink could also be held responsible for causing such destruction and injuries or death.
An attorney for a bartender or server would argue that the law seems to believe that a server or bartender should know when a person has reached their limit, even if that individual them self does not know and continues to order and purchase alcoholic beverages. This puts an unfair burden on many bartenders and servers, waitresses and waiters who may not be able to tell because everyone who is drinking too much may not be a ‘fall down’ type of drunk. Naturally, if a person is falling down drunk, then it is the responsibility of the bartender or person serving the patron to ‘cut them off’ and put them in a cab or make sure they have a safe way home – take away their keys.