Court says it's up to Legislature to change rule

Kansas Supreme Court says bars can't be sued by drunken driving victims

The Kansas Supreme Court says victims injured by drunken drivers can't sue the bars that served them. KCUR-FM reports that the high court's ruling on Friday comes in the case of Jeff Kudlacik, who was placed in a medically induced coma and faced months of rehabilitation following a car accident involving a drunken driver in 2015.The driver who hit Kudlacik, Michael Smith, had a blood alcohol content of nearly 0.18, which is more than twice the legal level of impairment in Kansas.Kudlacik sued the two bars that served Smith before the accident.But the Supreme Court says it's bound by a 1985 case that found Kansas doesn't have a law allowing victims of drunken driving accidents to hold alcohol vendors accountable for their patrons.The court says it's up to the Legislature to change the rule.

The Kansas Supreme Court says victims injured by drunken drivers can't sue the bars that served them.

KCUR-FM reports that the high court's ruling on Friday comes in the case of Jeff Kudlacik, who was placed in a medically induced coma and faced months of rehabilitation following a car accident involving a drunken driver in 2015.


The driver who hit Kudlacik, Michael Smith, had a blood alcohol content of nearly 0.18, which is more than twice the legal level of impairment in Kansas.

Kudlacik sued the two bars that served Smith before the accident.

But the Supreme Court says it's bound by a 1985 case that found Kansas doesn't have a law allowing victims of drunken driving accidents to hold alcohol vendors accountable for their patrons.

The court says it's up to the Legislature to change the rule.