Jones v. Toyota Motor Co.

Opinion

LOW, P. J.

In part I, we discuss the definition of the “obviously intoxicated minor” for purposes of a liquor licensee’s civil tort liability as compared to a driver’s responsibility when “driving under the influence” of alcohol.

Plaintiff John Robertson Jones, age 18, and 2 of his friends, David Purser, age 20, and Andy Dowdle, age 19, left Napa around 7:30 p.m. for Lake Tahoe in Dowdle’s Toyota SR-5, a 4-wheel-drive pickup truck. Over a period of three to four hours, each consumed six cans of beer and one bottle of beer from a bar before reaching O.B.’s Board (O.B.), a restaurant in…