As the provincial government moves forward with tough new penalties for impaired driving, CTV News investigates the role bars are playing in the dangerous game of driving while over the limit.
In the early morning of March 8, 19-year-old Amanda Woodthorpe died in a car crash after leaving Roosters Country Cabaret in Pitt Meadows, B.C. Police said alcohol led to the crash.
"No one could believe it. We were all just crying and it was really hard," Amanda's friend and neighbour Robin Reed told CTV News. "We'd always go to the bar, not thinking about who was the DD that night, getting into the car and not thinking anything can happen, and it did."
Sundays bring big crowds to the Roosters Country Cabaret, arriving by car and party bus for its $2 Corona nights. People come from as far away as North Vancouver, Vancouver and Washington State.
The bar has been in trouble with authorities before. It received eight liquor license violations in the past eight years for overcrowding, serving to minors and serving to intoxicated people. City Hall suspended its licence two times.
After the deadly crash last month, Pitt Meadows Mayor Don McLean asked police to keep a close eye on Roosters Country Cabaret.
"I'm concerned enough. We're going to pay extra attention to them and if they are breaking the law and creating problems for us. Council doesn't have any problems with further suspensions," McLean said.
Lawyer James McNeney said, "The bars are under an onus to serve it right. They're not supposed to get people drunk and they're responsible until they sober up."
In 2000, when a drunk man left the bar in the Steveston Hotel and drove into a group of teens, a judge ruled the pub was 50 per cent responsible.
McNeney successfully argued the bar overserved the driver and should have stopped him before driving. It was the highest liability ruling ever against a bar in Canada.
Despite the lawsuit, McNeney said it's business as usual for B.C. bars, and the Liquor Control Board lacks the resources for proper safety enforcement.
Amanda's friend Robin Reed also wants bars to do more. "I think bouncers should look at who's drunk, not only when they're in the bar but also who's leaving when they get into cars," she said.
The management at Roosters Country Cabaret declined to answer questions on how they deal with the rules that all bars are supposed to follow.
Many painful unanswered questions remain for family and friends of Amanda Woodthorpe. They do know the crash has changed them profoundly.
"It's horrible that a life has to be taken for other people to learn," Reed said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mi-Jung Lee
