The Associated Press released a story last Thursday detailing the failure of the most recent Tennessee effort to prevent passengers having open alcohol containers in vehicles. The House State and Local Government Committee voted to send the bill, which was sponsored by Jon Lundberg (R – Bristol), to be studied after the General Assembly adjourns, which essentially means it will receive no further consideration during this session.
Existing state law makes it illegal to drink and drive in Tennessee already, but this bill wants to enhance the current legislation in two ways:
- It would be a misdemeanor for a driver to have a blood alcohol content over 0.01 if there was an open alcohol container in the vehicle, whether or not the driver was actually drinking.
- It would make it illegal for passengers to have open containers of alcohol in vehicles.
Rep. Curry Todd (R – Memphis), the committee chair, told the press that he supported Lundberg’s bill but had not been able to find enough votes on the panel. He added, “It’s already illegal to be drunk and drive. We were just trying to work it through.”
Representative Ulysses Jones (D – Memphis) also expressed concern over the bill’s ability to penalize drivers because of passengers’ behavior, saying, “On a charge when you’re just driving and you’re not drinking, I think it’s too heavy handed.”
The current law in Tennessee, which does not ban open alcohol containers in vehicles, is out of compliance with Federal guidelines on such matters, and this has caused part of the state’s share of Federal road money to be diverted to road safety programs, and specifically on DUI enforcement.
