Intoxicated Passengers and Common Carriers

Pleading and proving claims for a duty of additional care by a common carrier because of a passenger’s alcohol intoxication is challenging and difficult. Therefore, writes Gerald T. Donoghue in his August Illinois Bar Journal article, “Intoxicated Passengers and Common Carriers,” it is important for plaintiff attorneys to carefully screen intoxicated-passenger cases before seeking to litigate.

Donoghue begins with a discussion of the 2019 First District of the Illinois Appellate Court ruling in Daniel v. Chicago Transit Authority, in which the defendants did not owe the decedent, Corey Daniel, a duty of additional care arising from his intoxication because the plaintiff failed to allege facts showing not only the bus operator’s knowledge of the passenger’s intoxication but also knowledge of his medical condition; and facts showing that the hazards of travel were responsible for the plaintiff’s death. Donoghue goes on to examine what factors do tend to play into a duty of care. 

Read the August Illinois Bar Journal article, "Intoxicated Passengers and Common Carriers."