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In 1999, a NJ man who attended a Giants game--where he was served enough beer to have 0.266 blood alcohol level (legal limit is 0.08)--drove into oncoming traffic, paralyzing a 2-year-old girl and injuring her mother. Now it's revealed the Giants' beer vendor, Aramark, settled with the Verni family for $25 million. The settlement was split between daughter Antonia, now 11 and a quadriplegic on a ventilator and her mother. Though a jury's awarded $105 million to the family, an appeals court sent the case back into court. (The driver served 5 years in prison.) The Star-Ledger reports that yesterday's appeals panel found the case raised "issues of significant public concern" like whether the Giants and NFL "engaged in practices that encouraged socially irresponsible behavior, such as excessive consumption of alcohol." Verni's lawyer was happy with the deal, "She needed to get the appropriate care, and this will more than take care of her for the rest of her life."
Giants Vendor Settles with Paralyzed Girl's Family for $25 Million
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They ought to show this picture of Ms Verni , along with one of the driver behind bars, on the big screen at Giant's Stadium before the kick off of each game. Maybe then the beer drinkers will get the idea. There's no amount of money that can compensate that family. Another alternative is to ban alcohol sales and/or possession at the stadiums.
If you seriously injure someone in a car accident because you were drunk, you should have to suffer the same fate as the victim.
And while it's not fair to people who are responsible, maybe all cars should have breathalyzers installed that won't allow the car to move if you're over a certain limit. Way too many people think it's ok to drive after they've been drinking.
I also wish they'd do away with alcohol at sporting events. If you want to drink and watch a game, go to a bar. Besides, the warm swill they serve is extremely overpriced.
"I also wish they'd do away with alcohol at sporting events."
That would be too harsh. What they can do is prohibit the consumption of alcohol in the stands. It worked for the British and their issues with football hooligans.
Eliminating beer at sports events is not the answer. The answer is a better informed and more responsible populace, and as Kojak suggests providing the means to limit consumption. Beer and baseball/ football/ etc go together, but there can't be wanton consumption.
The problem is that it's too hard to police how much beer people will comsume at games, other than cutting off the supply in the 5th inning, halftime, or whatever.
Many people will police themselves, but all it takes is one idiot to get hammered and paralyze or kill someone. And there's usually more than 1 idiot at most games.
Drinking and driving, IMO, is worse than carrying around a loaded weapon.
Have valet parking at stadiums and you have to blow into a breathalyzer to get your keys back?
I was confused about how they pinned this on the beer vendor until I realized that the douche who drank his body weight in beer and then decided to drive home got five years.
"engaged in practices that encouraged socially irresponsible behavior, such as excessive consumption of alcohol."...
that's quite broad, don't you think? That would include every media that includes alcohol ads, bars and restaurants, even supermarkets that sell beer (Hey, they're selling me beer, they're encouraging me!)
@2 -- "If you want to drink and watch a game, go to a bar. "
Outside of New York, people drive to bars. Not sure how telling them to drink at bars instead of stadiums makes much difference. The only notable improvement is that it's easier to get a cab home from a bar than from a stadium. But the problem doesn't go away.
Another solution would be to provide some sort of non-alcoholic entertainment at the stadium (or its neighborhood) after the end of the game. Like a free movie or something (I know, just throwing out ideas). Otherwise everyone jumps into their car at the same time.
How about, when entering a stadium and your ticket gets scanned, any person over 21 who wants to drink gets a plastic bracelet. Each time you purchase a beer, the bracelet gets hole punched. Two holes in your bracelet, you're cut off. Granted, it won't help with the tailgaters who come into the stadium drunk, but it will limit the liability of the facility to some extent.
I like the bracelets, but it won't work. I don't drink, so I'd sell mine to some dude for a hot dog.
Beer at sporting events isn't the problem, beer and driving is the problem. If I take the 7 train out to a Mets game or the bus to Giants Stadium, there's no reason I shouldn't be allowed to have 17 beers and be a drunken mess.
Well, OK, there are reasons related to disorderly conduct and getting sick on the train on the way home, but they're clearly not as significant as those related to drinking and driving.
Mr. Mel - a damn fine idea.