California

Proposed Law Gives Bartenders New Job: Keeping You Safe

The proposed law would require bartenders to take a four-hour course focusing on the social impact of alcohol, how booze impacts the body and intervention techniques.

A proposed law would give bartenders in California the tools to cut off customers who are too drunk.

Similar laws are already in place in other states.

The proposal is getting mixed reviews: Some said it is a great idea, especially when it comes to making roads safer, while others said it gives bartenders the right to discriminate.

"The first thing that goes out the window is judgment," said Erik Hope, an instructor at the American Bartender College in Mountain View.

Hope said bartenders are the first defense to keep drunk drivers off the roads.

"We are one of the few states that don't require that you be certified or licensed to be a bartender," Hope said.

San Diego Democrat Lorena Gonzales wants to change that by enacting the Responsible Interventions for Beverage Servers Training Act, or RIBS.

The proposed law would require bartenders to take a four-hour course focusing on the social impact of alcohol, how booze impacts the body and intervention techniques. Training would also have to be renewed every three years.

"I think it's our responsibility," said Victor Quiroz, who is training to be a bartender. "That's why they teach us in school to watch for the signs."

Those signs are what bartenders will have to pick up if the proposal becomes law.

"How can you tell if someone is inebriated?" Mountain View-resident Mike Castanon said. "What are you going to do? Take a breathalyzer blood test? It does not make sense."

The proposal just entered the California Assembly. If passed, it will go into effect in 2020.

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