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People carded for buying alcohol are only those who have “young” faces, according to Creston resident Sharon Snell.
But she wants to change that. In a bill proposed by Snell, those who buy alcohol will be carded regardless of age. Initiative 135 would prohibit chronic drunk drivers from purchasing alcohol by a restriction on a driver’s license.
“This law would be easy to enforce,” said Snell. “It’d require everyone, regardless of age, be carded when purchasing alcohol since the driver’s license would show the restriction.”
After the death of her daughter, Tiffany, by a drunk driver in 1997, Sharon Snell wants to prevent more accidents.
“This is what keeps me focused,” said Snell. “Losing somebody makes it hard to function in some areas, but right now this has all of my attention.”
A person convicted of drinking and driving would not be able to buy alcohol for a certain length of time. The restriction time ranges from one year for the first conviction, to more than 10 years for the fourth conviction.
“The person would be required to surrender his driver’s license (after being convicted) and be issued a new one with the restriction,” said Snell. “The new license will be at the violator’s expense. Servers will see the restriction on turn them away.”
For violators under the alcohol restriction it would be a crime to attempt to buy alcohol. The penalty would be a $500 dollar fine and restriction time doubled. It is also considered a crime to sell alcohol to a restricted person. The seller would be fined up to $500 and/or imprisonment up to six months.
“Friends and family usually don’t want the person to have alcohol so they won’t contribute,” said Snell. “It also benefits servers. They will then have a law to back them up and they can turn problem customers away.”
This initiative also provides for records be kept of drunk driving deathsto see if certain establishments are not abiding by the law and.
“Records would show repeat offenders (and) if fatalities have lowered,” said Snell. “It’d give us a starting point to make changes down he road.”
Critics argue that the bill would be too big of an inconvenience to enforce.
“This law would be very difficult to enforce — we serve anywhere from 100-200 people a night,” said Rocco’s owner John Shryock. “There’s got to be a better, more efficient way than to card all customers.”
Another argument is the possibility of costing the state too much money. Snell believes that after the first year the bill goes into effect, it will bring in money. The cost of the first year is about $70,000, the second year the cost would be $16,000 while the income from the bill would be nearly $35,000.
“After the first year it will more than pay for itself,” said Snell. “I think it will save a lot of money for the state because fewer people will reach the felony stage, which will lower the state’s expense.”
To be put on the June 19 ballot, Snell needs at least 20,000 signatures on the petition in favor of the bill.
“This idea needs to be gotten out there and get noticed,” said Snell. “This is 100 percent preventable because it’s in the hands of sober people.”
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