Drinking, driving and responsibility - Currents

Cheers, April, 2003 by John Doyle

It's time to defend an activity in which millions of Americans engage each year: Drinking and driving.

Shocked? Aghast at the thought? After all, you may be thinking, drinking and driving kills. Drinking and driving destroys lives. Drinking and driving is a crime.

No--these are the results of drunk driving, a very different animal.

"Drunk driving" is the sum of two irresponsible acts: drinking too much, and then getting behind the wheel.

"Drinking and driving" can be the responsible act of enjoying beer, wine, or spirits in moderation, at a restaurant, tavern, event, or friend's party, and then driving home.

Most responsible social drinkers would likely say that yes, it is fine to have a glass or two of wine with dinner at a restaurant and then drive home. But they would be afraid to say so out loud for fear of being thought "politically incorrect."

That is the new image the Neo-Prohibitionists have painted of responsible consumption. They have intentionally confused the issue. In so doing, they have perverted the public impression of alcohol so that even the police fall for the rhetoric, and forget the law.

Chief William B. Berger, the immediate past president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police recently threatened that if you are stopped at a roadblock after consuming adult beverages, "you'll get a ride to jail." He added, "We will not allow a man or woman to leave [a roadblock] knowing they consumed alcohol..."

"No one can drink alcohol and drive safely," say many state drivers' manuals. "There's no excuse for drinking and driving," says the federal government's National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

In twisting the wise counsel "Don't drive drunk" into the similar-sounding but entirely different message "Don't drink and drive," anti-alcohol activists are trying to change behavior -- even though more than 40 million Americans drink responsibly before driving each year.

The "Don't drink and drive" says, "Don't have a glass of wine with a restaurant dinner. Don't have a cocktail at a friend's house. Don't have one beer at the ballpark."

A better message is: "Drink Responsibly. Drive Responsibly."

Drink Responsibly. Know how much you can consume safely and stop before you reach your personal limit.

Drive Responsibly. And this goes beyond alcohol. If you cannot watch the road while you use your cell phone, hang up. If you have not had enough sleep and need to pull over, do so.

A recent British study found "drivers' reaction times were on average 30 per cent slower when talking on a handheld cell phones compared to when they have been drinking alcohol," Reuters reported. The New England Journal of Medicine has reported that the danger of using a cell phone while driving is comparable to that of driving with a .10% BAC -- higher than the legal threshold for DWI arrest in most states -- and research shows driving after less sleep than usual creates a similar level of impairment.

Promoting responsible drinking any time, especially prior to driving, is a goal that the restaurant and adult beverage industries share with traffic safety groups. It is the common ground that has led to the reduction in genuine alcohol-related traffic fatalities over the years.

But that important work cannot continue until rhetorical games and attacks on "drinking and driving" cease. And all parties work to encourage Americans to drink responsibly before driving.

John Doyle is Executive Director for the American Beverage Institute, an association of restaurants and on-premise retailers committed to the responsible serving of adult beverages. To learn more visit www.ABlonline.org