Large, citywide festivals can bring communities together, boost the economy by attracting tourists, and help define the character of the region. However, there’s also a dark side to these large-scale events: more people are drinking and deciding to drive once they leave the celebration. Drunk driving is wrong under any circumstances, but it’s especially dangerous when the intoxicated driver may not be familiar with the city and is driving through an area with crowds of cyclists and pedestrians.
One of the latest tragic cases of drunk driving at a popular event occurred at this year’s South by Southwest, a film, music, and technology festival that attracts an estimated 70,000 or more people to Austin, Texas. The deadly accident occurred late on the night of Wednesday, March 12th, when police asked a 21-year-old man to pull over on suspicion of drunk driving. Instead of stopping, the driver sped away, smashed through a police barricade, and hit a crowd of people outside two popular music venues. The driver injured at least 23 pedestrians and killed two at the scene. A third victim died several days later, and six others remain hospitalized, with one in critical condition.
As if that’s wasn’t bad enough, South by Southwest isn’t the only major city event that’s recently seen serious consequences from a drunk driving accident. In the same week, a drunk driver in a pickup truck ran into three pedestrians as they crossed the street near a venue for Daytona Beach Bike Week, one of the biggest motorcycle rallies in the country. As of Wednesday, March 13th, two of the pedestrians were listed as being in serious condition while the third is fighting for his life.
The South by Southwest and Bike Week accidents cast a pall over what are normally joyous celebrations and defining cultural events for their respective cities. Obviously, the primary people to blame for the fatalities and injuries are the drivers who showed such a complete disregard for human life, but the accidents do raise an important question: is there anything more that cities and festival organizers can do to discourage drunk drivers from getting on the road?
Curbing Drunk Driving: What’s Currently Being Done
Law enforcement officials and festival organizers understand the increased risks at any large scale event, and police will typically increase the number of units dedicated to patrolling the festival area, as well as the number of traffic stops designed to catch drunk drivers. Certain streets that see a lot of pedestrian traffic may also be blocked off from vehicles.
In the wake of the South by Southwest tragedy, other major events have increased their efforts to keep revelers safe. In Dallas, police prepared for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade that draws a crowd of about 125,000by having 150 officers monitor the event, as well as blocking off nearby streets to prevent cars from getting too close to pedestrians. Event organizers are also urging party goers not to engage in too much drunken revelry and to find an alternative to driving if they do choose to drink. Meanwhile, C3 Presents, the organization that puts on events like Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits music festival, has reported that they re-evaluate their festivals every year to determine if they can be done in a safer way, although they did not go into the specifics of how they do this.
Even with the increased law enforcement and campaigns against drunk driving, it’s clear that some people are still driving when it’s not safe for them to do so. What, if anything, can cities do to further curb this dangerous practice?
Increasing Safety and Discouraging Drunk Driving
In order to decrease the odds that people will drive intoxicated, cities should look at some of the reasons why drunk individuals might decide to get behind the wheel in the first place. For example, taking a taxi can be expensive, and cabs can also be hard to hail during citywide events. Furthermore, many cities strictly enforce their parking zones, and someone who drove downtown for a night of celebration might not want to leave their car overnight and risk a parking ticket. Some people who drive drunk may feel that they have “no choice” but to do so, even though this obviously isn’t true.
One thing that some cities now do on holidays like New Year’s Eve and St. Patrick’s Day is to offer a free ride service. For example, Washington, D.C., has a service called SoberRide that offers party goers a free ride home, up to the value of a $30 cab fare. Although there hasn’t been a study to prove any causation, D.C. also has the lowest rate of drunk-driving accidents per capita in the country.
Slate writer Justin Peters also suggests that towns and cities waive parking tickets for people who were too drunk to drive and took a cab or had a sober friend drive them home. He notes that some states actually already have a holiday program sponsored by AAA and Budweiser that will tow your car home for free while you ride along in the truck’s cab.
Another measure that cities should consider implementing during large events is to ramp up their public transportation. If more buses and shuttles are running later into the night, revelers will have another way to get home without driving themselves. Cities could also consider routing buses from the downtown area to popular hotels in order to encourage out-of-town visitors to use the transit system.
Ultimately, Individuals Must Act Responsibly
Although there are certain steps that cities and event organizers can take to discourage festival-goers from driving drunk, in the end it’s up to the individual to take responsibility for their own actions. If you’re planning to drink at a large holiday event or a festival like South by Southwest, make sure that you start your night with a plan for how you’re going to get home, whether that involves getting a ride with a sober friend, using public transportation, or taking a cab. There’s no situation where it’s acceptable to risk the lives of others and yourself just to get home from a celebration.
