An extra bar hour seen as cutting DWI

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The idea of adding an alcohol-free hour to bar closings might reduce drunken driving although some bartenders pan the plan as low-pay babysitting.

Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez announced Thursday that he wants bars and clubs citywide to stay open an hour beyond current closing times in hopes of curbing DWI.

"State law says that at 1:45 liquor gets stopped," Chávez said. "Two o'clock everyone out the door."

That spills a lot of people out onto the street at one time and doesn't give people time to sober up, he said.

"They could serve soft drinks, coffee, food," Chávez added.

David Blanc, owner of One Up Elevated Lounge in downtown, said he sees it as a chance to make more money.

"There's an opportunity for people to relax more because they're not being pushed out onto the street," Blanc said.

But for Jesse Brudige, a bartender at Doc & Eddy's, it's an opportunity not to make any money for an hour.

"It's basically an extra hour of babysitting in my opinion," Brudige said. And it could give patrons a sense of false security, he added.

"It'll put people under that pretense that they sat around for an hour, had some nachos, so now they're good," he said. "Probably not going to be good."

Blanc called closing time in downtown "a nightmare." The extra hour could help decrease congestion and the possibility of fights, he said.

Chavez said it'll give people a better opportunity to catch a cab since currently they're all being called at once at 2 a.m.

The mayor is working with the state liquor director about making his proposal a state statute.
But Chavez said his proposal would be optional.

That's an option the president of the New Mexico Retail Association said establishments should consider.

"It's an option that a smart business owner would probably take," Billy Baldwin said. "Especially in an area like downtown where there is so much going on."