“Open Container” Bill Delayed In House Committee

Legislation that would ban car passengers from having an open container of alcohol hit a three-week delay in the Tennessee House Tuesday. Lawmakers on a key committee say they worry that measure will affect innocent travelers.

Democrat John Litz leads the opposition to the open container bill. He says the law would lead to over-enforcement by some police officers.

“The fact is, that we’re getting ready to charge people out here, that have gone up and down the road, and they’ve picked up aluminum cans, and they’ve got some cans in the front seat of the car, because they don’t have a truck, and …we’re gonna give law enforcement the opportunity to charge them fifty dollars.”

That’s what the fine would be for violating an “open container” law.

Representative Jon Lundberg says his bill simply removes the loop-hole that allows a driver to “pass the bottle” to a passenger, if a police officer stops the car. He says the scenarios suggested are far-fetched.

“I’ve heard everything, from, ‘If I’m a preacher, and I’m taking sacramental wine, what about that, what about this…’ We could do ‘what-ifs,’ and find out all sorts of exclusions, but bottom line is this is a valid and strong piece of legislation that’s gonna save lives, put money back into the state. The intent of it is to get people off the road who are drinking and driving.”

The bill was deferred for three weeks after at least four committee members expressed opposition.

Lundberg is in his fourth year of trying to pass the bill. He says if it passes, the state will get about $1.5 million in federal transportation money which is currently being held back.

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Representative Litz says the measure is well-meaning but shouldn’t be approved.

“Good legislation passes, no matter who carries it, and bad legislation doesn’t. This is a piece of bad legislation.”

Lundberg, a Republican from Bristol, expressed impatience with opponents sitting on the House State and Local Government Committee.

“…and when I get pulled over, I’m passing it! That’s simply what I’m doing, I’m partying in the car. And to sit here and say I would rather let people have a drink on the way to the game, whether it’s UT or Memphis, and it’s worth millions of dollars and dozens of lives, I think Is exceptionally short-sighted.”

Although the federal government withholds highway funds from states which haven’t passed open container laws, Lundberg says the best reason to pass the bill is the estimated 24 lives that would be saved from DUI fatal accidents.

“The states that are our companions, that have not passed this, and there are only eight of them, we all share one thing. We have the highest DUI-related accidents. I don’t think it’s just coincidence, I think it’s because of …some of these issues that we haven’t closed.”

Litz, a Democrat from Morristown, asked both Lundberg and Tennessee Highway Patrol Col. Mike Walker about scenarios where over-enthusiastic officers might arrest innocent “designated drivers” or drivers with less than 0.01 percent blood alcohol content (A BAC of 0.08 percent is enough for a DUI charge).

Litz says officers will inevitably charge someone who is innocent and he says that will result in phone calls to representatives from their constituents.

State Representative Eddie Yokley, a Democrat from Greeneville, says he is a tee-totaller but imagined a scenario with a designated driver could be arrested because his friends had brought beer into the car on the ride home.

“I’m for getting the drunk driver off the road, anything we can do, but you know, there’s all these, there’s innocent people out there, sometimes. And you know, believe it or not, a state representative’s, I think, career could be ruined with that one little thing.”

Lundberg was raising his voice by the time the committee hearing drew to a close.

“The penalty for this is a fifty dollar fine! No points against your license, and if you don’t have another violation in six months, it’s expunged! And I would like to have somebody tell me, ‘Jon, that doesn’t make sense. Two dozen lives in the state of Tennessee and a couple of million dollars are not worth that.”’ That’s ridiculous, in my opinion, and it’s time we do this!”

Representative Curry Todd, a Memphis Republican, chairs the House State and Local Government Committee. Todd announced unilaterally he was deferring the bill three weeks.

Todd told other representatives he intends to put an amendment on the bill. Todd is a retired police officer who said he has participated in many drinking and driving traffic stops.