Fear factor

Cheers, April, 2007 by Donna Hood Crecca

As the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. Except in the case of ignition interlock. On that topic, ignorance is bankruptcy.

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Sound extreme? It's not. Imagine if every one of your customer's cars were equipped with a device that would sense their BAC through sensors on the steering wheel or key fob and prevent the car from starting if they registered above 0.02 percent (the setting would be well below the legal limit due to the margin of error). What might that do to your beverage alcohol sales? What about your total business? On another level, what does it do to our right as Americans to responsibly enjoy a legal product?

Recently, I've attended several industry meetings, including the Cheers Beverage Conference and the Council of Hospitality & Restaurant Trainers (CHART) conference. At every meeting, ignition interlock was bought up by speakers. The typical audience response was, "What's that?"

Ignition interlock is just the kind of threat we can not afford to ignore. It's so outrageous it's hard to believe it's real. But it is. For years, these devices have been put on the automobiles of repeat drunk driving offenders, but several states are making moves to impose ignition interlocks on first-time offenders; New Mexico passed legislation to that effect last year. Those in the know consider this a major step toward what M.A.D.D. advocates: universal ignition interlocks.

This issue has been covered in industry media, including Cheers and the mainstream press, and industry associations such as the American Beverage Institute can't say enough about it. While we absorb vast amounts of information every day, we have a responsibility to participate in the core industry issues. Ignition interlock is one of those issues.

Several major automobile manufacturers are already working on universal interlock technology and M.A.D.D. top execs cite it as a priority. If we fail to act, we won't need to imagine the end result.

What can you do? Find out the status of ignition interlock in your state, communicate with your government representatives and participate with industry associations active on the topic. Talk with your colleagues, your employees, even your guests, but be fact-based in your discussion. Finally, be aggressive about responsible service training.

I've covered a number of threats to this industry in my years as an industry journalist. This one truly scares me.

Cheers!

Donna Hood Crecca

Editor