While the orange hued vacation SCROTUS had little in the way of actual laws made, the State of California under Jerry Brown has been quite busy the last two years. And one law that was introduced by Assemblyman Evan Low D-Cupertino could prove to make streets safer.
Under Assembly Bill 711, alcohol manufacturers and licensed sellers can offer free or discounted rides through ride-sharing services like Uber or Lyft, or taxi cabs. Codes or vouchers would be allowed to be given by alcohol sellers or directly to consumers. There is a caveat, the discounted ride offers cannot be wink-wink incentives to buy a company’s product.
Currently forty-four other states as well as the District of Columbia this activity making California behind the curve in this instance though wineries had a limited usage proviso for “special events”.
Despite the caveat, Alcohol Justice, a nonprofit based in San Rafael, has been quoted against the bill, “While drunk driving is a serious concern to public safety, and efforts to reduce it should generally be applauded, this bill implicitly allows for beer manufacturers to promote the over consumption of alcohol.” Bear in mind that with a name like Alcohol Justice they are against both words and not just alcohol.
This is the typical, stop all bills quote that you get from certain advocacy groups. Instead of being cautiously optimistic that the measure might decrease drunken drivers, they come out fully against because a bill that isn’t 100% against alcohol. I would wager that if a bar allowed patrons to sleep off a New Years party would be railed against too.
If you have a mind that understands legalese, you can read the bill HERE and make up your own mind.
