Yoscovitch v. Wasson, 12561
| Decision Date | 03 June 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 12561,12561 |
| Parties | Sandra Ann YOSCOVITCH, Appellant, v. Duane WASSON, individually; Carolyn C. Jara and John Joseph Jara, individually and dba 7-11 Market, Respondents. |
| Court | Nevada Supreme Court |
Appellant, Sandra Ann Yoscovitch, allegedly sustained injuries when the motorcycle on which she was a passenger collided with an automobile driven by Duane Wasson. Her complaint alleged that prior to the collision, Wasson, a minor, purchased alcoholic beverages at a 7-11 market owned by respondents Carolyn and John Jara, and that he thereafter became intoxicated, ran a stop sign, and caused the collision. Appellant filed suit not only against Wasson, who failed to answer her complaint, but against respondents. It apparently is appellant's theory that she can show a causal nexus between the sale of liquor and the later collision, and that respondents negligently failed to inquire adequately as to Wasson's age. Respondents filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The district court granted respondents' motion. We affirm the judgment.
In Hamm v. Carson City Nugget, Inc., 85 Nev. 99, 450 P.2d 358 (1969), we held that a liquor vendor cannot be held responsible to third persons for injury or death due to an inebriated driver's conduct. The proximate cause of the injury is deemed to be the purchaser's consumption of liquor, rather than its sale. See Cole v. Rush, 45 Cal.2d 345, 289 P.2d 450 (1955); and Parsons v. Jow, 480 P.2d 396 (Wyo.1971). Here, as in Hamm v. Carson City Nugget, Inc., supra, if civil liability is to be imposed upon a vendor who sells liquor to an inebriated person, or a minor, it should be accomplished by legislative act. See also Mills v. Continental Parking Corp., 86 Nev. 724, 475 P.2d 673 (1970).
Additionally, appellant contends the district court erred in concluding that she could not pursue a civil action based on alleged criminal violations of state statutes prohibiting the sale of liquor to minors. 1 Appellant suggests that respondents' alleged violations of criminal statutes prohibiting the sale of liquor to minors, render them negligent per se.
In Hamm v. Carson City Nugget, Inc., 85 Nev. 99, 450 P.2d 358 (1969), and in Davies v. Butler, 95 Nev. 763, 602 P.2d 605 (1979), we specifically rejected the argument that violation of a penal statute regulating the sale of intoxicating liquor constitutes negligence per se. Accordingly, we must conclude that an alleged violation of NRS 202.055 and City of Reno Municipal Code § 4.04.240(a) does not give rise to civil liability.
Affirmed.
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