Categories: Lifestyle

Drunk Driving Starts Where Alcohol Is Served

Across Trinidad and Tobago, citizens are being hit with higher fees, steeper fines, and tougher enforcement on the nation’s roads. The message from the authorities is clear: personal responsibility must improve. Drivers must obey the law. Motorists must make better choices.
That message is not wrong.
But it is incomplete.
Because one of the most dangerous traffic offences in this country cannot be measured by a camera, mailed as a ticket, or detected until it is too late.
Drunk driving.
Speeding can be clocked in seconds. Seatbelt use can be checked at a glance. Licensing and insurance can be verified instantly. But alcohol impairment is usually discovered only after blue lights flash, metal twists, or lives are lost.
So the uncomfortable question must be asked.
If we are serious about prevention, why are we ignoring the place where drunk driving actually begins?
Drunk Drivers Do Not Get Drunk on the Road
This is a truth we all know but rarely say out loud.
Drivers do not get drunk on the highway.
They do not become impaired at an intersection.
They do not lose judgment at a traffic light.
They get drunk somewhere else first.
They get drunk in bars, clubs, rum shops, and lounges. They get drunk in places where alcohol is legally sold, regulated, and served by licensed staff.
And very often, the signs are obvious.
Slurred speech. Poor balance. Loud or erratic behaviour. Delayed reactions. Everyone can see it. Including the person behind the bar.
Yet night after night, the same scene plays out across the country.
A man arrives in his own vehicle. He drinks steadily. He becomes visibly intoxicated. Closing time comes. He pays. He stumbles outside. Staff watch him get into his car. The engine starts. The vehicle pulls away.
And society pretends that responsibility begins only once the tyres hit the road.
This Is Not About Blaming Bars for Everything
Let this be clear. This is not about turning bartenders into police officers or punishing business owners for every bad decision made by adults.
Personal responsibility still matters. A driver who chooses to drink and drive must face consequences.
But personal responsibility does not cancel out shared responsibility.
Alcohol is not an ordinary product. It is regulated precisely because it impairs judgment, reaction time, and decision making. That is why bars require licences. That is why service hours exist. That is why minors are restricted.
With regulation comes duty.
Serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person who you know must drive is not neutral behaviour. It is a moment where intervention is possible and often ignored.
Prevention Must Happen Before the Ignition Turns
Government policy has focused heavily on punishment after the fact. Fines after offences. Charges after crashes. Court appearances after funerals.
That approach does not prevent drunk driving. It reacts to it.
The bartender and bar owner occupy a unique position in this crisis. They are often the last people who can interrupt a dangerous decision before it reaches the road.
No one is asking them to restrain patrons. No one is asking for confrontation or force.
The standard is simple and reasonable.
If a person is clearly drunk and you know they have to drive, stop serving them.
Offer water. Offer time. Offer a taxi. Offer a phone call to a friend. Delay the departure. Do something.
Doing nothing should not be the default.
Responsibility Must Come With Protection
For this approach to work, government must act responsibly as well.
Bartenders and bar owners must be trained to identify intoxication. They must be legally protected when they refuse service. They must not fear losing business or facing retaliation for doing the right thing.
A bar that stops serving a drunk patron and offers alternative transport should be protected, not punished.
The goal is not to destroy nightlife or attack small businesses. The goal is to save lives.
The Hard Truth We Keep Avoiding
Every drunk driving tragedy has a beginning long before the crash. It begins where alcohol was served. It begins when warning signs were visible. It begins when someone chose silence over intervention.
If Trinidad and Tobago truly wants safer roads, fewer funerals, and fewer grieving families, then prevention must start before the driver turns the key.
And that requires honesty.
If you serve him drunk and watch him drive, you share responsibility.
Not because you caused the crash.
But because you were there when it could have been stopped.