Open Container Law Is Stupid
AC Klanheider is reporting that the most recent open container law, the one that outlaws passengers from enjoying a beer, has been defeated.
Personally, I don’t understand open container laws, and I am talking about the driver, not just the passenger. Why is it legal for somebody to sit down at dinner, have two beers, but still not be drunk, and then get in their car and drive home, while it is illegal for a working man to stop at Mapco on the way home from work, buy one beer, and drink it on the way? It is already against the law to drive drunk. Why does it have to be against the law to have a beer open in your vehicle? Stupid, if you ask me.
[…] Dean, self-styled libertarian that he is, just doesn’t see the wisdom in open container laws: Personally, I don’t understand open container laws, and I am talking […]
The point kind of makes sense. If someone isn’t under the influence, drinking a beer while driving is no less safe than drinking a Pepsi while driving. Prohibit them both or allow them both, because the act of drinking itself is no different no matter what is in the can. If someone is under the influence, then that is punished separately regardless of whether he has one in his hand. One counterpoint might be what about a situation in which someone is right on the edge - not quite over the legal limit - but we know that the beer he has in his hand will necessarily put him over the limit in the next 15 minutes when a police officer may not be there to stop him.
Having come up in the ’70’s when the legal age drinking age was 18, I can attest that we did drink much beer in the course of driving. A shared 6-pack was good for at least 100 miles. (Not that I’m condoning that, mind you.*) I’ve always been known as the designated driver for the most part. A couple three beers was still legal, then.
Of course, now, with our cradle-to-grave watchdog government in place, and politicians who exist only to formulate new laws to further stricture freedoms (for teh children!), we are so. much. better. off.
Has our civilization gotten better since these new socialized controls? The everywhere cameras, the inexplicable laws (did you know fishermen aren’t allowed to dig their own worms anymore? You will have to have a receipt for that cup’o'worms, or you get ticketed), the *hungry lawyers looking for any reason to sue. Or are we becoming truly the safer, but more fascist, police state?
I’ll be the first to admitt that I will take advantage of the current law when the occasion presents itself. That being said, the state does lose 3% of their Federal Funding (approx. $60 million) for our roads and highways because we don’t comply with Federal Guidelines. It seems to me that the reasoning behind not allowing a person to drink whilst driving is to draw the line. Once you allow someone to drink while driving, then you’ve opened up a whole new can of worms. Like Pingback said, a man can drink 2 beers and not be over the legal limit, but why even start down that road? I’m sure there have been plenty of times that I’ve had a few and erroneously thought that I was easily under the limit - due to the effects of alcohol. I also see BP’s point; but to be precise, if you take one sip you are under the influence of alcohol. You may not be drunk or over the legal limit, but it’s effects are still there, although extremely small. Basically, I like to drink as much as the next guy, and doing it while driving would be great….for me. But the laws aren’t made for people like me (or BP and Pinkback); they’re made for people who aren’t able to handle personal responsibility. I liken it to owning machine guns…..it would be great to go out on the weekend and spray 1000 bullets into a few targets (maybe even while having a beer). But we can’t do it (freely) because of those few who aren’t able to handle that type of responsibility.
To the contrary, the law is exactly for assholes like you.
The purpose of the legal limit is not to say, “here’s how much you can drink before driving”, it is to deal with the fact that people may have trace amounts of alcohol in their system for reasons other than drinking alcoholic beverages directly before (or during) getting behing the wheel.