An Iowa Senate committee has approved legislation that would limit the liability for Iowa businesses accused of over-serving a customer involved in a drunk driving crash. If the bill becomes law, a person injured in a drunk driving wreck or the relatives of someone who dies in an accident would be limited to receiving a total of 175-thousand dollars from a bar or restaurant. Senator Michael Breitbach, a Republican from Strawberry Point, says the bill’s needed because Iowa bar owners are finding it harder to buy liability INSURANCE.
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Senator Nate Boulton, a Democrat from Des Moines, opposed the bill. He says the current law helps “control risk.”
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Under current law, a bar or restaurant can be held liable for all damages from an accident if the person was sold or served alcohol and the business DID know or SHOULD have known the person was intoxicated or was becoming too drunk to drive.
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