Nevada woman sues Coors over son's death

[JoFerret]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3990050,00.htmlSunday April 18, 2004 3:01 AM


RENO, Nev. (AP) - The mother of a 19-year-old killed in a traffic accident is suing Coors Brewing Co., claiming that it promotes underage drinking.

Jodie Pisco, of Reno, contends Coors has failed in its duty to protect the country's youth from drinking. Her son, Ryan, was killed in 2002 after he drank Coors at a party and drove his girlfriend's car into a light pole at 90 mph, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Washoe County District Court, seeks unspecified damages. It accused Coors of ``glorifying a culture of youth, sex and glamour while hiding the dangers of alcohol abuse and addiction.''

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[LittleApple81]

1. I think we must take some responsibility for our own lives. You

cannot sue everybody because we are in a corporate culture where we follow like sheep.

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. I agree...

Lawsuits like these cheapen legitimate lawsuits.

[BostonTeaParty04]

3. and she is helping the neocons with their plan to outlaw civil suits.....

thank you m'aam. Maybe her son drank a lot that night because he wasn't reaised by a very decent person.

[DoNotRefill]

4. You can't outlaw stupidity.

eom

[tinanator]

5. There are serious issues here

because of the power of this "institution" youth is uninformed of the MANY REAL dangers of alcohol. Not everyone is genetically encoded to be susceptible to alcohol, but watching a young man lose his life to liver failure is fairly disturbing, and realizing that some people are simply helpless to stop is much more humanitarian than adopting the pro-corporate one big party "personal responsibility" line that is already permeating this thread. That is just another vote for Republican politics. If the real issues of alcohol use and abuse were made known in public awareness campaigns, perhaps this young man would have thought twice or never even had the beers in the first place.

[LittleApple81]

8. I come from a country where people have a much healthier attitude

towards alcohol comsumption. Teenagers are allowed to have a glass of wine with their parents during dinner, and the effects of alcohol consumption are explained. There are no "bragging" rights for drinking yourself into a stupor.
We do have alcoholism but not as many problems as we have in the US. I think this is similar to our attitude towards teen sex: say it does not happen and it will not happen.

[boobooday]

6. There is an Orwellian tinge to the whole thing

The anti-drinking ads are sponsored by the alcohol companies, and followed by commercials for booze.

Mixed messages, anyone?

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[dflprincess]

7. Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4727256.html

"Drinking at a discount: It's the law, Madison suit claims"

<snip>
MADISON, WIS. -- They're fighting for their right to party. Cheaply, that is.

Three bar patrons, including two University of Wisconsin-Madison students, have filed a lawsuit against 23 campus-area bars, charging that the bars broke state and federal antitrust laws by cutting off their usual weekend drink specials. "You kind of feel ripped off," said Brian Dougherty, a Twin Cities native and one of the UW students suing.

It doesn't matter that the bar owners agreed to a temporary cease-fire only at the urging of university officials who want to discourage students from drinking too much, the plaintiffs say. The decision to stop selling two-for-ones, discounted pitchers and other specials after 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays is nothing more than naked price-fixing, their suit states.

Dougherty, fellow UW student Nic Eichenseer and Eric Stener claim that bar owners have illegally reaped "tens of millions of dollars" from students and other bar patrons. They're asking the court to grant them class-action status, arguing that perhaps thousands of college students and other Madison bar-hoppers paid too much for their drinks and deserve compensation.

Although no one involved in the suit is chuckling, some consider the case quirky and laughable. A Madison newspaper published a sarcastic editorial and several get-outta-here-type letters to the editor. Comedy Central's "Daily Show" sent a correspondent to Madison to "cover" the story. The segment is expected to air next week.

[AngryAmish]

30. Chuckle all you want, it is restraint of trade

Kids win this one.

[Lefty48197]

9. This is a perfectly legitimate lawsuit. Coors targets young drinkers.

Generally, the young drinkers can't handle alcohol, can't handle cars, and sure as hell can't handle the combination. Older, more mature, more responsible drinkers are far less a threat to be drunken drivers. Coors doesn't care. They continually target the youngest of the drinkers (who also happen to be inexperienced drivers). Shame on Coors for targeting the most vulnerable among us.

[Turbineguy]

10. When I was a teenager

in the middle of the last century......

Drunk was cool, Coors was the vehicle. As a junior in High School, I drank a couple of tall boys at school once. Did not get caught.

[Beaker]

12. wanna bet...?

"...Older, more mature, more responsible drinkers are far less a threat to be drunken drivers..."

most of the accidents caused by drunken drivers i read about in the paper seem to involve middle-aged men as the imbiber behind the wheel.

[ButterflyBlood]

15. I hope you don't have a problem with me drinking underage

I have never driven the same night I've had any alcohol. Never. Coors sucks but there's nothing wrong with 19 year olds drinking. Targeting 18-21 year olds bothers me no more than targeting 15-16 year olds with R-rated movies.

[SemperEadem]

19. except that it's against the law for 19 yr olds to drink/be served alcohol

change the law first. Then you'd have a valid argument.

[ButterflyBlood]

22. so anything illegal is wrong?

so it was wrong for people to have sodomy in the 13 states where it was illegal before Lawrence v. Texas?

Sorry, but I'm not letting a stupid law not let me drink. My drinking has never harmed anyone.

[SemperEadem]

23. except your own liver..

change the law first.

[ButterflyBlood]

27. since I'll be 21 in 8 months, and it'd take more time to change the law

it's kind of meaningless. But my liver isn't harmed anymore than it would be if I were 21, or if I lived in a country where I could legally drink. And was sodomy wrong where it was illegal before Lawrence v. Texas?

[makah]

16. Nascar also shoulders responsibility

Nascar also is marketed to our nation's youth, I think they should also be sued for influencing his fast driving. Corporate America has to take responsibility for their transgressions. When you make a product which kills then you have to be responsible for the murders.

makah

[newyawker99]

25. Hi makah!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[President Jesus]

11. Coors family campaign contributions

if she wins, it might impact the Republicans :shrug:

Coors family campaign contributions, 1993-2004

[TexasMexican]

13. Drinking + Driving + Speed = Death

The link isnt working for me so I cant comment on it fully.

Hopefully he just killed himself and didnt take anyone else with him.

Dont give me this bullshit that "kids dont know any better," How much money do we waste advertising that you shouldnt drive drunk. How many times do parents tell thier kids not to drive drunk. How many times do we see in the news about kids who are killed because they are driving drunk.

I can say that I'm happy when a drunk driver kills only himself.

I wish more of them would, it sucks when they take an innocent person along with them.

[ButterflyBlood]

14. dumbest lawsuit I've heard of in a long time

although Coors does deserve it for making disgusting beer and being ran by right wing fascists.

However the dumbest part of it is she is also suing her son's girlfriend and her mother, his girlfriend for letting him drive the car, and her mother for GIVING her the car. She might have a point with the girlfriend, but how the hell is her mom responsible? She had no direct involvement in this at all. blech.

[SemperEadem]

20. following her reasoning, she needs to sue herself .

for letting her son leave the house that night.

[anakie]

17. why not sue

the power company as well for putting up the light pole there; or the car manufacturing company that makes cars that go 90mph with a pissed person driving; or the girlfriend for letting him drive her car; or the booze shop that sold him the alcohol; or the gas station that sold the gasoline that made the car run etc.

From this side of the world it appears that suing someone rather than accepting responsibility for one's own actions is the American way.

[ButterflyBlood]

18. actually she IS suing the girlfriend too

that's how stpuid this is.

[TexasMexican]

24. So the girlfriend survived?

The link to the article isnt working for me so I cant read the whole story. Was she in the car when it crashed or no? If she was I hope she wasnt hurt to bad, and it sucks that her car got wrecked.

The women who is doing this suing should be glad that her retarded drunk driving son only killed himself instead of ending anyone else's life with his own.

I wish more drunk drivers would have the courtesy to do the same.

[ButterflyBlood]

28. she wasn't with him

she lent him his car to leave by himself.

[FeebMaster]

21. What's next

suing gun companies because someone commits a murder with one of their guns?


Oh wait...

[Columbia]

26. Of course

The gun made them do it, ya know?

[VTMechEngr]

29. Darwinism in action!

Sorry.

Driving drunk has killed since cars have been in existance.
Driving into a pole at 90 mph is asking for death.

No, I hope this is thrown out. We just need to learn to take our alcohol like europeans!