Can you sue a bar for a drunk driving crash in Georgia?

Georgia’s dram shop law, O.C.G.A. § 51-1-40, makes a bar, restaurant, or store responsible for a drunk driving crash in two situations: it served alcohol to someone under 21, or it knowingly served someone who was already noticeably intoxicated, and in either case knew that person would soon be driving. Otherwise the drinker alone is liable.

What does O.C.G.A. § 51-1-40 say?

The published heading is “Liability for acts of intoxicated persons.” Subsection (a) states the general rule that drinking, not serving, is the cause of drunk driving harm. Subsection (b) is the exception:

a person who willfully, knowingly, and unlawfully sells, furnishes, or serves alcoholic beverages to a person who is not of lawful drinking age, knowing that such person will soon be driving a motor vehicle, or who knowingly sells, furnishes, or serves alcoholic beverages to a person who is in a state of noticeable intoxication, knowing that such person will soon be driving a motor vehicle, may become liable for injury or damage caused by or resulting from the intoxication of such minor or person when the sale, furnishing, or serving is the proximate cause of such injury or damage.

Subsection (c) protects a seller who checked an ID in good faith. Subsection (d) protects private homeowners, but not licensed sellers. Enacted in 1988 (Ga. L. 1988, p. 1692) and not amended since.

What does it mean for you?

“Dram shop” is an old term for a place that sells liquor by the dram. The law answers a question families ask after a drunk driving crash: can we hold the bar responsible too? In Georgia the answer is usually no, with two exceptions that come up more often than you might think.

The first is age. A bar that serves a 19 year old who then drives is exposed, and “willfully, knowingly, and unlawfully” is easier to prove than it sounds when the server never asked for an ID. The second is visible drunkenness. If a server kept pouring for someone who was slurring, stumbling, or loud, and that person had car keys on the bar, the server “knowingly” served a “noticeably intoxicated” person who would “soon be driving.” Those are the exact words the jury hears.

Why does it matter? Money, bluntly. A drunk driver often has a minimum liability policy that does not come close to covering a serious injury. A bar or restaurant carries liquor liability coverage, and a claim against it can be the difference between a settlement that covers surgery and one that does not. These cases depend on evidence that disappears fast: receipts, surveillance video, the names of other customers. That is why we move on them within days.

Related Georgia laws

• O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1: no cap on punitive damages against a drunk driver
• O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33: how fault is divided among everyone involved
• O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33: the two year deadline to file an injury lawsuit

Sources

• Official Code of Georgia Annotated on legis.ga.gov (official text)
• O.C.G.A. § 51-1-40 on Justia (2025 Georgia Code)
• Text verified against the published code on 2026-10-16. Statute text is public record. Nothing on this page is legal advice about your specific case.

What should you do next?

If a drunk driver hurt you or took someone from you, tell us where they had been drinking. That one fact can change what your case is worth, and the evidence to prove it will not wait.

Call Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C. at 770-820-0711, any hour, any day. The call is free, the case review is free, and there is zero fee unless we win. Nine offices across Georgia, and we come to you if you cannot come to us.

One more thing. Don’t sign anything from an insurance company before you talk to a lawyer. A signature on the wrong form can give away rights you did not know you had.