SANDRA L. HART and ROGER J. HART, Plaintiffs v. HOWARD L. IVEY, JR. and JOHN ROSENBLATT and DAVID KING and DAVID HOWELL and MIKE'S DISCOUNT BEVERAGE, INC., Defendants, and JOHN DENNIS LITTLE, JR. and JOHN DENNIS LITTLE, SR., Defendants and Third-Party Plaintiffs v. HOWARD L. IVEY, JR., Third-Party Defendant, 332 N.C. 299

Summary

The court held that the injured party had not stated a claim of negligence per se for the violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 18B-302 because § 18B-302 was not a public safety statute adopted for the protection of the driving public. The injured party had stated a negligence claim under common law principles because the party hosts were under a duty to the people who travel on the public highways not to serve alcohol to an intoxicated individual who was known to have been driving and the injured party alleged that the party hosts had served an alcoholic beverage to a person they knew or should have known was under the influence of alcohol and that they knew that the person would shortly thereafter drive an automobile.