Imagine the scene – just as the check for the meal arrives,
so does the last round of drinks.
In most cities, that would mean the diners sit and visit while
they finish their alcohol. But this is not most cities.
This is New Orleans – and the diners in question simply
ask the waitress for “to go” cups. In less than two minutes, they
are out on the streets, headed for their vehicle, alcoholic beverages in hand.
Imagine the scene – just as the check for the meal arrives,
so does the last round of drinks.
In most cities, that would mean the diners sit and visit while
they finish their alcohol. But this is not most cities.
This is New Orleans – and the diners in question simply
ask the waitress for “to go” cups. In less than two minutes, they
are out on the streets, headed for their vehicle, alcoholic beverages in hand.
That is one of the things that makes New Orleans unique among
perhaps every other city in the country. It also is one of the things that makes
New Orleans “probably the worst in the country as far as alcohol-related
control policies,” said Deborah Cohen, author of a recent study of alcohol
cities in cities around the nation.
Cohen admits she was amazed to encounter the “to go”
situation when she moved to New Orleans, a practice she said is unheard of elsewhere
in the country.
As a then-staff member for the Louisiana State University Health
Sciences Center, the situation caused Cohen to speculate – surely, such
practices made a difference as far as drinking and driving, she reasoned.
To test her theory, Cohen teamed with a fellow researcher to
look at effects of easy availability of alcohol and at how to control underage
drinking.
The study examined 1995-97 data from 97 cities. Published last
month in Preventive Medicine, it shows New Orleans ranked 15th during that time
in alcohol-related traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents.
The Louisiana city averaged 7.15 alcohol-related traffic deaths
per 100,000 residents. Dallas rated number one in that category with an average
of 10.2 deaths per 100,000 residents, the study found.
However, when one compares alcohol-related traffic deaths per
daily vehicle miles driven, New Orleans is number one with 0.52 fatalities per
daily vehicle miles driven. That number is more than twice the national average
of 0.2 fatalities per daily mile.
“When you account for the fact that people dont
drive as much in New Orleans, the rate makes it the worst in the country for
alcohol-related traffic fatalities,” Cohen said in a New Orleans Times-Picayune
newspaper article earlier this year.
Cohen also noted that New Orleans scored low among the other
cities in every category, including restricting the availability of alcohol
and imposing strict penalties for alcohol-related traffic violations.
The Times Picayune article noted that efforts are being made.
In 2001, there were 15 alcohol-related traffic deaths out of a total of 57 in
the city, an improvement from the 18 out of 51 that was recorded the previous
year, the article explained.
In addition, New Orleans police make more “driving while
intoxicated” arrests than any force in the state. And those numbers could
increase when an even tougher “driving while intoxicated” law takes
effect in Louisiana in the fall of 2003.
Also, since Cohens study, state courts have approved
sobriety checkpoints.
In addition, the state has passed a 21-year-old minimum drinking
age and stricter alcohol licensing requirements.
Nevertheless, some note that such measures appear to be passed
reluctantly in the state. Indeed, it has only been the threatened loss of federal
highway money that has led the state legislature to toughen “driving while
intoxicated” laws in recent years.
Also, while the state has set the minimum drinking age at 21,
legislators have chosen not to close a troubling loophole.
As it now stands, persons under 21 cannot be served alcohol
in bars. However, one must only be 18 to enter such establishments. Many observers
have complained that such a situation makes it nearly impossible to enforce
the 21-year-old drinking law. After all, while it may be possible to keep from
selling alcohol to an 18-20 year old in a bar, how can an establishment possibly
ensure those persons are not drinking alcohol purchased for them by others?
In addition, while the state has an open container law, it
still is legal for a passenger in a vehicle to possess alcohol. Observers say
that naturally begs the question – what is to keep a driver from simply
handing his alcohol to a passenger if stopped by police?
Such situations are indicative of the strength of the alcohol
lobby in Louisiana. Indeed, there can be no denying the alcohol lobby in the
state is powerful, said Ken Ward, who serves as executive director of the Louisiana
Moral and Civic Foundation.
“They are a strong influence in the Louisiana Legislature
and have been for quite some time,” Ward explained.
There also can be no denying that Louisiana – despite
recent measures – has a long way to go when it comes to curtailing the
effects of alcohol in the state, Ward added.
Cohens study offers some steps that can be taken, including
toughening penalities for alcohol-related violations by individuals and businesses
and using random sobriety checkpoints.
The key simply is controlling access to alcohol, the Cohen study concludes.
But of course, that would mean those “to go” cups would simply have
to do just that – go.