ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605170012
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: alcohol
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON
The American Beverage Institute said it wants the scare tactics to stop. Contrary to what many say, you can have a drink and drive, according to the Washington, D.C., trade group for the alcoholic beverage industry.
The institute even suggests in a new publicity campaign that some people could have two drinks and safely negotiate the highways. It depends on the person, and the average person knows his or her limit, the institute says.
But the institute contends that the media and groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving have stigmatized social drinking and oversimplified the drunken driving problem. They have created a climate, the institute says, in which many people erroneously believe it is illegal to drive after one drink.
It wants to counter that perception and is contacting newspapers and television and radio stations before they prepare anti-drunken driving stories that often run before Memorial Day weekend, just a week away.
The institute has 220 members - brewers, distillers, wineries, distributors, retailers and restaurants who operate 4,000 establishments.
Beverage institute spokesman John Doyle suggests the proof that drinking and driving can mix is in the numbers. Between 50 million and 80 million people drink and drive ``responsibly'' on something of a regular basis, Doyle said.
``These folks are driving home safe. They are not making the news,'' Doyle said. ``What people need to understand - and we want to start with the server [in a restaurant or bar] - is that having one drink with dinner and driving is perfectly reasonable and safe and, if you drive safely, responsible behavior.''
The institute announced the printing of a poster which depicts a hypothetical couple who, after "drinks and dinner" at a restaurant, drove home.
This message follows: ``There's a line between drunk driving and legal drinking and driving. Don't cross it.''
When placed in kitchens and back rooms of bars and restaurants, it is supposed to cut down on the dirty looks some waitresses and bartenders give drinkers.
Doyle of the institute explained with a personal example. When he goes out to eat, he likes to have two beers. ``On my second beer, I've had people say, `Are you sure you want another one?' - as if to say to the patron sitting there in the restaurant, `I disapprove of your behavior.'''
The thinking is, ``If there's a reasonable understanding that responsible drinking and driving is not a crime and something to be sneered at ... you might have servers not looking down their noses,'' Doyle said.
Hold it right there, said Todd Lancaster, owner of Awful Arthur's Seafood Co., a restaurant chain with a location in downtown Roanoke. "Come on. No one is going to say that," not to a customer who wants a second drink, Lancaster said. "They're going to say it after the fourth or fifth beer and they're going to say, 'How about a glass of water? How about a soda? How about taking a break?'" he said.
The institute also is against states lowering the legal limit for alcohol content in a driver's body.
Lower limits give the impression of striking a blow against drunken driving, the institute said, but mainly punish greater numbers of responsible drinkers. Rather, the attention belongs on problem drinkers. Though they represent a small slice of the drinking-and-driving public, they kill and maim the most people, it said.
Not surprisingly, many would throw tomatoes at the new poster and the institute's message.
``The best approach is not to drink and drive,'' said David Smolensky, spokesman for the National Association of Independent Insurers in Des Plaines, Ill.
The Insurance Information Institute in New York has found that alcohol-related traffic accidents cost $46 billion annually in the United States. That's about $23 billion for medical care, $17billion for funerals and $5billion for property damage, he said.
The insurance industry believes lower blood-alcohol limits do help reduce deaths and injuries from alcohol-related traffic accidents, which in turn helps hold down the cost of insurance, Smolensky said. In Virginia, the limit is 0.08 percent, except for those under 21, who are subject to a limit of 0.02 percent.
The institute's message of self-control ``is scary,'' said Robert Chapman, spokesman for the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Department. ``I wouldn't want people to get the impression from the information they're putting out is you can drink as long you feel fine.''
Shep Rouse, owner of Rockbridge Winery in Raphine, does not belong to the institute but said its leaders raise a point. ``It's bringing to a head the issue that is so hotly debated: whether individuals control their own destiny or government needs to do it for them,'' Rouse said. He keeps wine samples small at the winery and stops pouring early at wine festivals.
The clearest advice may be that from Randy Green, spokesman for AAA of Virginia, an automobile club based in Richmond. Before drinking away from the home, he said, have a safe way back.
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