Keys Please: Making Valets Refuse to Give a Drunk Driver His Keys after a Night in the Bar

Abstract

People find it a good idea and smart policy to prevent others from getting in a car when they are under the influence of alcohol, especially when alcohol-impaired driving is a leading cause of car accidents in the United States. Liquor vendors who use parking attendants and valets are in a unique position because they are able to stop their visibly intoxicated patrons from driving and killing themselves and innocent third parties. Surprisingly though, state courts refuse to prohibit valets and parking attendants from returning a visibly intoxicated patron’s keys even though liquor vendors are in the best position to prevent the likely harm caused by alcohol-impaired driving using the least amount of resources. Thus, the problem of valets giving their visibly intoxicated patrons their keys and then killing themselves or others perpetuates.In refusing to recognize a duty requiring valets and parking attendants to withhold a visibly intoxicated patron’s keys, state courts are more concerned with the preservation of an individual’s property rights rather the public’s protection from this foreseeable harm. This Note analyzes the opinions of the state courts and demonstrates that their reasoning to support the continued protection of the patron’s property rights is not as sound as the courts believe it to be. This Note then argues for the recognition of a duty requiring parking attendants and valets to refrain from giving a visibly intoxicated patron his keys.