According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drunk driving remains the leading cause of death on our nation’s roads: “Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in drunk driving crashes – that’s one person every 48 minutes in 2017… In 2010, the most recent year for which cost data is available, these deaths and damages contributed to a cost of $44 billion that year.”
Indeed, it’s crucial that everyone comprehends that it’s not just about drinking and driving. In fact, recent analytics provided by the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics demonstrate that far more people are injured or die due to slips, trips, falls, sexual assault, violence, suicides and so forth, and due to the overindulgence or overservice of alcohol, than driving while intoxicated. Add to this the ubiquity of guns in the United States; then Russian Roulette is the name of the game that our society is playing.
Accordingly, it is incumbent upon all on-premise alcohol providers (bars, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels and other venues in the hospitality arena) be sure that their managers, servers, bartenders and so forth are fully cognizant of the broader risks of overserving alcohol and the need to serve alcohol responsibly in all instances.
The responsible service of alcohol by on-premise venues is a crucial component in the prevention of not just drunk driving but all alcohol-related injuries and deaths. As people become intoxicated, their judgment becomes impaired. Additionally, as people become more intoxicated, the greater their impaired judgment. Serving additional alcohol to someone who is impaired is dangerous because they do not appreciate the risks associated with being intoxicated.
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