Drive-thru liquor stores not adding to alcohol-related car accidents

PHOENIX — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said more than 10,000 died nationwide in 2010 crashes involving drivers with a blood alcohol content of at least .08, the legal limit.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving has targeted drive-thru liquor stores as a gateway to underage drinking and drunk driving but at least in Arizona neither claim appears to be accurate, according to state officials.

Lee Hill with the Arizona Liquor Department said they have received few complaints involving sales of alcohol to minors or to heavily impaired drivers at the dozens of stores in Arizona selling liquor to those on the go.

“There have not been an overwhelming amount of complaints or violations that are directly related to drive-thru liquor operations.

“I don’t think there are any statistics to show that [booze for people already impaired] is more accessible than popping open a beer or something,” Hill said.

And she said there’s little chance drive-thru liquor stores are going away.

“There’s no proposed legislation or discussion that I am aware of in the industry right now,” Hill said.

The head of the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, Alberto Gutier, said he’s “unaware of any crash in the state that has been directly linked to a drive-thru liquor store.”

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