Some Localities Step Up Efforts to Outlaw Drive-Up Liquor Stores

Concerns over alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and deaths are spurring some local efforts to ban drive-up or drive-through liquor sales, USA Today reports.

Drive-through sales of packaged alcohol, such as beer or wine, are legal in many states, including Texas, Florida, Maryland, Tennessee, Louisiana and Georgia. In Louisiana, drivers are also permitted to buy ready-to-drink frozen alcohol beverages, made with vodka, tequila, rum or other alcohol, with concentrations as high as 190-proof. Drivers or passengers are not allowed to remove the lid on the drink, put a straw through the lid hole, or remove part or all of the contents, according to state law.

Efforts to limit drive-up or drive-through liquor sales are underway around the country, the newspaper reports. For example, a ban on drive-up alcohol sales recently went into effect in Rantoul, Illinois. In Waterloo, Iowa, council members will soon review a zoning revision that would limit businesses selling alcohol, and eliminate some drive-up liquor stores.

Jan Withers, President of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, told the newspaper that drive-through alcohol sales are a gateway to drunken driving and underage drinking. “It gives the opportunity for many more people to be on the road driving impaired,” she said.