Rules & Regs

     I believe the answer is relatively simple. Alcohol plays a major role in many accidents, but the state doesn’t seem to do anything about the way the bars do business. In one major city, I discovered (personally) that the bars will sell "any drink for any coin". In other words, take a roll of pennies with you, and you can get totally sloshed for less than a buck! Often, those who partake of those "any coin offers" then go out, hop in their vehicles, and hit the road...literally! Does that make sense to you? It sure doesn’t to me. In some states, if you show visible signs of intoxication, they (the bars) are required to cut you off or not serve you at all. If they do serve you, and you go out and have an accident, not only is the bar liable, but so is the person(s) who served you, the bar manager, the owner(s), and everyone else connected with the bar, individually and collectively. Alcohol-related accidents in THOSE states are becoming rare. That, in itself, is a good thing! By regulating how the bars do business, some states have cut these alcohol-related accidents to a minimum. Perhaps, in time, there won’t be any of this type of accident. But let’s get back to this OTHER state...drinking is a major problem. Drinking and driving is an even GREATER major problem. Perhaps this is a problem in just this state, perhaps not. Regardless, the accident rate could be cut dramatically if the state would step in and begin to control how the bars operate. It’s obvious that the people are not controlling themselves.

     OK then. Allow the politicians, government officials, local authorities, and who knows who else, step in and regulate our lives. Do we want that to happen? I don’t think so. Personally, I believe that it would be much better if WE assumed the responsibilities of "self-regulation" than to allow federal, state, or local agencies do it for us. Let’s take driver training classes and educate ourselves where alcohol and substance abuse are concerned. We can minimize our risks this way and lessen the opportunity for our benevolent government officials to interfere with our lifestyle and our rights. They’ve done that often enough for other reasons, and our rights are being taken away, bit by tiny bit. I’m not fond of that "Big Brother" sort of thing, and I would hope that you’re not, either. I don’t believe that we got ourselves into the lifestyle we’ve chosen just to fight and argue with our governments. I’ve always thought that we just wanted to have fun.