Don’t punish smart drinkers

People get drunk.

It’s just a fact of life. At a college known for its partying, all IU students know this.

The smart ones know how to deal with it — if it’s too far to walk at night, you bring along a designated driver. It’s the right way to have fun and stay safe.

Some bars, particularly on big drinking days such as New Year’s Eve, reward designated drivers with free soft drinks in an effort to make sure that people get home safely.

Now, that’s apparently not good enough. The Indiana Supreme Court recently ruled that passengers in cars going along public roads are considered to be in public — so if passengers are drunk, they can be arrested for public intoxication.

In this particular case, Brenda Moore, who had a bit too much to drink, asked a friend to drive her home so she wouldn’t be driving drunk. An Indianapolis police officer pulled the friend over because the license plate light on the car was out. The friend, who told the officer he didn’t have a valid license, got in trouble, but so did Moore.

The court was following the letter of the law and cannot really be held at fault here. However, the law needs to be changed to allow drunk passengers to be taken home safely without being arrested for public intoxication.

Moore — and others like her — did the right thing. Knowing she was drunk, she didn’t get behind the wheel and seriously injure or kill herself or others. She had a sober friend drive her. Aside from the fact that the friend didn’t have a license, which Moore apparently didn’t know at the time, this was the right move.

So many of us college students are told to do the same thing: drink responsibly.

That means if we have to take a car home, then we need a sober driver. It’s the smart thing to do.

The law is sending a message that it doesn’t matter if we did the right thing and didn’t drive; we can still get in trouble. Even if we don’t have open alcohol containers in the car, even if we’re not being unruly, we can still be arrested and convicted.

That’s the wrong message to send.

People like Brenda Moore should be rewarded for having the good sense to get a sober driver, not convicted.

Cases like this don’t encourage people to get a sober driver; they send the message that they can still get in trouble, so why bother?

Indiana lawmakers, take note. Maybe during the next session, you can make yourselves useful and take a stand that could save human lives. Repeal this law. Reward people for getting a sober driver rather than punishing them.

Encouraging people to get a sober driver saves lives.

­— hanns@indiana.edu