Phoenix auto accident attorneyIf you are throwing a football party to cheer on the Arizona Cardinals as they search for their second consecutive playoff appearance, you may find your guests expect to consume alcoholic beverages. Research from the Department of Transportation has revealed around 45 percent of people who watch a football game have three or more drinks.

If you decide to provide alcohol for your guests, you want to make sure you do so in a responsible way so you do not create an added risk of car accidents due to impaired drivers. There are a few key things you can do to try to ensure your guests stay safe and are not a menace to themselves or to others as they drive home from your football party.

Tips to Avoid Car Accidents If You Throw a Football Party

If you are throwing a football party, some tips you should consider to try to prevent your guests from causing car accidents include:

  • Limiting the types or amount of alcohol you serve. You may want to provide only beer, rather than hard liquor, and you may only want to provide a set amount so you have some degree of control over how drunk guests actually become.
  • Stop serving alcohol and switch to snacks well before your guests leave. This will give your guests time to make sure they are sober enough to make smart choices about how they plan to get home.
  • Make sure guests who are drinking have a designated driver. Ask guests when they come how they plan to get home if they are going to drink, and be sure you actually see them leave with their designated driver.  Take away the keys of someone who is about to drive drunk, and call a cab or let the person stay at your home until the next morning when they are sober.
  • Provide non-alcoholic beverages so designated drivers who are attending your football party will have something they can drink as well.

In some states, party hosts can be held legally responsible if they allow guests to drink too much and then leave and get behind the wheel. This is called social host liability.

Arizona law generally does not hold private homeowners who throw parties responsible for the actions of their guests.  Arizona Revised Statue Section 4-311 addresses situations in which those who sell or provide alcohol can be held responsible for the actions of drinkers, and the law is very limited in imposing liability.

While you likely aren’t going to be personally sued if a party guest leaves your house and hits someone, you still don’t want to be left feeling as if you could have prevented a tragedy.  Make the smart, responsible choice to protect your guests and others on the road and be sure you do your part to help stop car crashes during football season.