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BADD spirits: Group gears up for NYE
Bill Conrad/Staff Photo - Carol Wooden presents Robert Lenore with a T-shirt from Bartenders Against Drunk Driving. Wooden, as well as Parker Reynolds, left, are volunteering their time to raise awareness for the cause.
By Kelley Chambers, kchambers@acnpapers.com
Robert Lenore doesn't need a crystal ball to tell him what the atmosphere at The Allen Wickers is going to be like on Saturday.
With his bartenders already faced with cutting patrons off in recent days for overly gregarious and "spirited" tones, the public house's general manager said the Christmas holiday has served as a precursor to what's to come on New Year's Eve.
But an added reminder of just how important a bartender's job is on such a night can't hurt either, he said.
One group in Plano is making sure The Allen Wickers isn't the only watering hole that understands their responsibilities when it comes to keeping the roads safe between 2011 and 2012. Bartenders Against Drunk Driving (BADD) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate bartenders and cocktail servers on how they play a pivotal role in minimizing bad judgment by preventing intoxication and being responsible and accountable behind the bar.
To help spread their message, BADD members visited restaurants, bars and pubs in the Dallas area this week to provide bartenders with BADD T-shirts, which the group is encouraging local bartenders to wear while working on New Year's Eve. The shirt, which displays the BADD logo on the front and a taxi service number on the back, is meant to encourage responsible driving among customers and conscientious serving habits among coworkers.
"We partnered with 1-800-TAXICAB as a reminder for bartenders and servers that they have an option to help customers get home safely if, in fact, they are too intoxicated to drive," said BADD President Carol Wooden. "It's pretty much just a reminder not only for letting servers know they have the option, but also to remind customers that it's a two-way partnership. A lot of times having that safe ride home is an afterthought; we're just trying to add that additional option for New Years."
Wooden founded BADD in 2010 to aid in the fight against drunk driving by educating bartenders on how their service to the general public can affect the lives of others. Wooden is also the general manager at JC Bartending Academy in Plano and works alongside her husband, Jason, to make the academy a vehicle through which BADD's message is put to use.
"It actually makes sense when you explain what the cause is," said Jason, sales director at JC Bartending. "MADD [Mothers Against Drunk Driving] doesn't want you to drink at all. We are saying bartenders are another line of defense, that you as a bartender are also held accountable."
JC Bartending School provides a formal education to serving alcohol and the responsibilities that come along with it. The academy and the nonprofit work together to encourage bar and restaurant owners to enforce the importance of obtaining a formal bartending certification prior to becoming a bartender.
"We are trying to find ways to give back to the community and in our bartending school we've always taught our graduates that alcohol is a drug and you're serving this drug to the general public," Wooden said. "So they have a moral and a legal obligation to protect the general public."
BADD is partnering with police departments across Collin County and beyond and recently spoke to the mayor of Addison about partnering with them, as Addison has the highest number of restaurants per capita in the Dallas Metroplex, Wooden said.
The national organization also provides scholarships for aspiring bartenders in their push to one day make such training a prerequisite rather than an option. This change, Wooden said, could save lives on nights like New Year's Eve.
"It's unfortunate that in the U.S. pharmacists have to go to school but bartenders are not required to attend any formal school," Wooden said. "A lot of mistakes are being made such as not knowing when to cut people off and over-serving. A lot of bartenders think that's cool because they're getting that $20 tip but they're then sending them out to drive."
Although the number of DUIs and DWIs are down 12.6 percent in Plano from November 2010 to November 2011, Officer David Tilley of the Plano Police Department said the roads will be sharply monitored into the early morning hours on Sunday as they, too, will be doing their part to save lives.
Tilley, who attributed the decrease in offenses to heightened enforcement and awareness, said the best way to make New Year's Eve enjoyable and safe is by planning ahead.
"If you know you're going somewhere where you are going to be consuming alcohol and there is the potential that you may over consume, plan ahead. Have designated driver or prepare by going to places where taxi cabs are on hand," Tilley said. "Most people plan ahead for their New Year's by making reservations or making plans with friends. It just takes one more step to make plans for that ride home."
To help increase awareness from a law enforcement standpoint, the Plano Police Department has set up posters in establishments where alcohol is served. The poster displays a vehicle of which half is a police car and the other is a cab, depicting the options one has if they plan on drinking on New Year's Eve, he said.
Given that seven out of every 10 motorists on the road between the hours of 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. have been drinking, Tilley said officers on patrol on New Year's Eve can automatically assume most of the vehicles on the roadway between the hours of midnight and 3 a .m. are being driven by people who are under the influence.
"We have a lot of taxi cab services available in our city," Tilley said. "A lot of people when they get intoxicated don't know their limits and they think they're driving OK and don't realize it until it's too late."
Officers will also be ready to conduct mandatory blood draws for individuals refusing to take the roadside breathalyzer test, leaving fewer options for partiers who go against their better judgment.
"Judges will be on standby to sign a warrant for their blood, they won't have an opportunity to say no," Tilley said. "We will have plenty of manpower out there, it's a big night and we want everyone to go out and have fun and get home safely."
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