When persuading people to drink alcohol, they should be held accountable, and if they have deep feelings, they don’t need to “suffocate”
and publish a proposal for “moderate voluntary drinking at civilized dinner parties”
□ Zhang Shoukun, a trainee reporter of this newspaper
□ Our reporter Chen Lei
Recently, the People's Court of Renhe District, Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province made a first-instance verdict on a case of drunk driving death: the drinker at the same table did not persuade him to drink, he was not at fault for Ma Mouyin's death, and should not be liable for compensation, and the decision dismissed all lawsuits by the family of the deceased ask.
Turning the clock back to December 2019, a traffic accident occurred in Panzhihua City. A 26-year-old man, Ma Mouyin, was drunk and drove into a roadside light pole and street tree, and unfortunately died.
On the night of the incident, Ma Mouyin first drank at a friend's house, and then went to his brother's house to drink. The alcohol content in his blood reached 192.4 mg/100 mL, which is considered to be drunk driving.
After the incident, Ma Mouyin's family sued four "drinking friends" including his brother to the court, claiming more than 748,000 yuan.
This case also warns people not to persuade or drink alcohol inappropriately when drinking with friends.
Improper drinking behaviors exist all over the country, especially in holidays, weddings, funerals and other time points and scenes. Disputes caused by co-drinking and casualties are not uncommon.
As the Spring Festival is approaching, many places and departments have issued proposals, advocating "civilized dinner parties and moderate voluntary drinking."
A number of experts interviewed by the "Rules of Law Daily" reporter pointed out that according to relevant laws and regulations, persuading or drinking alcohol may require civil or criminal liability, and may also constitute a joint crime.
When entertaining relatives and friends during the New Year’s and festivals, we must be enthusiastic about toasting and persuade them to drink moderately, and we must not forcefully persuade them to drink alcohol; as a co-drinker at the same table, when drinking with other people, we should also persuade them to drink moderately, and at the same time, we should be careful about the drinking of the co-drinkers. During the process, they have the obligation to remind and discourage, and also have the obligation to take care and escort the drinkers after drinking.
Anytime, anything can be persuaded to drink
The rules are cumbersome and criticized
Seven years ago, Li Gang from Suzhou, Anhui, held a wedding banquet for his grandson. Zhao Lei from the same village drove a minivan to deliver tobacco and alcohol to Li Gang, along with some money.
Just as Zhao Lei was about to leave, he was kept by Li Gang: "On the big day, let's go after dinner." Afterwards, Zhao Lei and Li Gang found a table and sat down.
As the wedding banquet went on, everyone began to drink wedding wine, and Zhao Lei's table was no exception.
Because he had to drive back to buy the goods, Zhao Lei didn't dare to drink.
Others at the same table persuaded him: "It's fine to drink less and drive. If you don't pass the road when you go back to town, no one will check for drunk driving." Seeing that Zhao Lei was still hesitating, Li Gang said: "With our relationship, Today, if you don't drink, you look down on me." Zhao Lei couldn't hold back when he heard that, so he drank a glass of white wine.
Unexpectedly, on the way to leave Li's house, because of drunkenness, Zhao Lei and his car fell into the ditch, and was found dead by passers-by.
In the end, Li Gang lost the Zhao family 80,000 yuan, and the others at the same table also lost 10,000 yuan each.
Today, every time I recall this incident, Li Gang still regrets it.
Zhang Ming from Chuzhou, Anhui usually socializes a lot and suffers from persuading him to drink. Drinking it will damage his own health and affect family harmony. If he doesn’t drink, the business he has finally negotiated may be in vain.
"You can't do it if you don't drink it! If you don't drink it, the other party will try their best to persuade you to drink, until you vomit and you are lying on the table, they will think that you are refreshing enough to make friends." Zhang Ming said, because he came home drunk, He has been injured several times and quarreled with his family because of it.
"I'm a brother, you're a younger brother, I say whatever you want! Come on, let's go." "Men don't drink, they walk in the world in vain." "... Such "rhetoric" flooded most of the wine tables.
Persuasion not only occurs between colleagues, but also among classmates, teachers, relatives and friends, and even strangers who do not know each other. As long as there is a dinner party, persuasion may occur.
Some media have conducted a survey on 2,005 respondents, 92.3% said they had the experience of being persuaded to drink, and 74% said that they accepted it when they were persuaded to drink.
Ai Hongqiang, a lawyer from Beijing Jingshi (Quanzhou) Law Firm, has often encountered drinking scenes in the past two years.
"Generally speaking, the person who persuades the drinker doesn't say anything when he comes up. He has to drink 3 glasses first, then toast the leaders or elders, and then drink around by himself, and then another person will come up after a circle." Ai Hongqiang It is said that people who persuade alcohol do not drink, and generally those who are persuaded do not drink. Everyone always thinks that persuading alcohol in this way can heat up the atmosphere and make things happen at the drinking table. In fact, many people are more disgusted by this. , Some persuaders themselves feel that there are too many rules.
Looks like a kidnapping
may bear legal consequences
Why does the uncivilized table behavior of persuading wine occur frequently?
According to Meng Qiang, a professor at the Law School of Beijing Institute of Technology, my country's wine culture has a long history. Many places not only encourage drinking, but also pay attention to the seats. This is actually a kind of etiquette for entertaining guests. , wine is also particularly precious, allowing guests to drink as much as possible is the greatest courtesy and respect for them.
"Nowadays, things are not so scarce anymore, and the logical way of making others drink more has changed. Some people still persuade people to drink out of enthusiasm, while others are purely malicious. Whether you can drink or not, I just hope you Drink more. Some people even find a sense of conquest from persuading wine." Meng Qiang said.
According to Ren Chao, a professor at East China University of Political Science and Law, modern uncivilized alcohol persuasion mostly occurs in compulsive drinking situations, that is, drinking between superiors and subordinates, and persuasion between men and women.
"Compulsiveness is mainly reflected in the direct means of the persuaders using rough language and behavior, or the use of implicit indirect means such as personal identity to force the persuaded to drink 'involuntary'. There are no well-arranged banquet seats and clever persuasion words. It does not highlight the unequal status of the people attending the banquet in the wine bureau culture. The so-called human affection is actually a moral kidnapping, without the modification of words such as power, position, gender, etc., the essence of uncivilized drinking behavior is the conquest of the weak by the strong under the unequal status ." Ren Chao said.
The most common legal consequence of improper drinking behavior is tort liability.
According to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code, if someone is in a dangerous state of drunkenness during the process of drinking together, the other drinkers should bear the safety protection obligations arising from excessive persuasion, toasting and other prior acts, otherwise it may be transformed into a tort.
In May 2020, a woman in Shanghai went to a barbecue restaurant late at night to have a drink. Several men approached her and tried to persuade her to drink. The woman died of alcohol poisoning at 4 a.m.
In July 2021, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ruled in the second instance that the woman herself bears 80% of the main responsibility for the death of drunkenness, and the two drinkers bear 12% and 8% of the compensation respectively, and the barbecue restaurant compensates the two drinkers in total. Bear 50% of the supplementary liability.
Ren Chao pointed out that in practice it is more common that excessive drinking in the process of drinking causes damage to the right to health or even death.
In addition, liquor bureau participants also have a duty to discourage drunk drivers from driving under the influence of alcohol.
If the co-drinker allows the person being persuaded to drive away, and a traffic accident occurs during the driving process, he should bear certain compensation liabilities; if he is persuaded to drive after drinking, he may bear the administrative penalty for drunk driving.
"Improper persuasion is a moral kidnapping with the help of implicit human feelings, equating social rules with human relations culture. This simple equivalence actually limits the connotation of social rules, overemphasizes human relations, and ignores the existence of legal rules and contract rules. and importance. This will detract from the authority of legal rules and contract rules to a certain extent." Ren Chao said.
In addition to harming their own health, experts interviewed by reporters agreed that improper persuasion of alcohol also damages the social atmosphere.
The first is food waste, which is not in line with the social trend of "practice thrift and oppose waste"; the second is that behaviors such as punching and shouting after drinking will affect the surrounding environment.
Strengthen publicity to understand the danger
Civilized drinking starts from oneself
In response to the behavior of drinking alcohol, many places and departments have recently released the "civilized dinner party, moderate voluntary drinking" initiative.
For example, the Civilization Office of Jianhua District, Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province recently issued a proposal to limit excessive drinking to the majority of residents, proposing that civilized drinking should be moderate, not persuaded to drink in a civilized manner, and ethical after drinking; Xingshan County, Yichang City, Hubei Province also issued a civilized proposal. , advocates "civilized catering, do not persuade alcohol, do not waste food"; Rizhao City, Shandong Province held a "civilized drinking, cherishing health" and focusing on the promotion of civilization and new wind...
In Ren Chao's view, the judiciary can carry out legal propaganda, and through legal propaganda, let the public realize that "you should be held accountable for persuading you to drink alcohol."
Traffic safety departments can increase the random mobility (fluidity of location and time) and frequency of DUI testing.
This method is to start from the main body of the drunk, to increase the subjective cognition of the drinker's possible crimes and to reduce the chance of luck.
Meng Qiang suggested that in addition to strengthening the rule of law propaganda, some agencies and units should actively advocate and prevent, and hotels should also properly perform their safety and security obligations. Asking if someone needs help, whether they need to call an ambulance, etc. when someone is obviously intoxicated can reduce uncivilized drinking behavior or personal and property damage caused by it.
Personally, Ai Hongqiang proposed that drinking in moderation should be done in the wine bureau; the concept of rank obedience should also be abandoned for the same drinkers, and the understanding and empathy of others should be enhanced, and the drinking and toasting should not be overly persuaded. , fighting wine, etc.
"Modern people's catering should take into account health and etiquette. They should not disregard health for etiquette, nor can they forcefully persuade people to drink alcohol against the wishes of others. We should create a healthy and civilized way of life, which will also contribute to the construction of socialist civilization." Meng Qiang Say.