It's against the law for us to advocate for or against legislation of any kind. With matters such as this it's our position at TxDOT that a single drink in an evening is too much for an individual planning to drive, as it would potentially take hours for that alcohol to work its way out of the system. This is why we spend so much effort educating folks on the value of having a person appointed to stay sober for the ride home after an evening out.
By the way, we feel the same way about distracted driving - which has become an epidemic among drivers across the nation.
While we believe the lede of a recent Express-News article about record-levels of alcohol consumed in San Antonio was intended to be satirical, the article was published without further commentary to clarify that point. The letter sent to us was intended as a reader response to the article:
Along with several other readers, I am also disturbed by the media praising San Antonio alcohol sales. A recent Express-News article begins: "Congratulations, San Antonio: you drank more than $600 million worth of alcohol in 2017." Is this fact something to be proud of? Then in another section of the paper I read about a wrong way drunk driver killing people. Local TV news also brags about SA's alcohol sales. What is wrong with this picture?
My wife and I moved to this area a few years ago from Albuquerque. New Mexico has had DWI checkpoints for many years. They are very effective. A few years ago a 52 year old state district judge was stopped during the beginning of a Memorial Day holiday. He appeared in an orange jumpsuit on the TV news that evening, and ended up losing his career. That sent a real message to people who might have considered drinking and driving. I cannot understand why Texas thinks these checkpoints are a violation of our freedom when cellphone use while driving is not. Drunk drivers are probably worse.
Our legislators must wake up and our news media must stop glamorizing alcohol sales.
- David Herron, Boerne