The Wisconsin Legislature and Scott Walker, over some municipal leaders' objections, are making it possible for people in
Madison and
Milwaukee to drink alcohol legally on the streets by pedaling open-air mini-taverns around town. Because if there's one thing that's true about Madison and Milwaukee, it's really hard to find someplace to get a drink.
I really don't understand what issue you have with this Jim. Bikes like these operate around the world, and this is just another fun activity for Milwaukee (I've ridden it multiple times and it is fun). Now to be clear the driver is not allowed to drink and is an employee. I look forward to mike next ride on the Pedal Tavern.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment and question, Dave.
ReplyDeleteMy observation is that too often in this state there is an over-dependence on alcohol for the fun. In fact, often the alcohol IS the fun to the exclusion of other things or people.
For example, when is the last time you went to a Brewers game and did not encounter drunken fans at the game or in the parking lots?
I went to a Nationals game this summer in DC. Great capacity crowd interested in the game and I attribute the less-boozed environment to the absence of tail-gating (read: drinking before the game). I did not see a single beer-and-inning, two-fisted slopper anywhere.
Just because the team has stopped showing the video doesn't mean the phenomenon is over.
Why is Wisconsin at or near the top of national measures for binge drinking, OWI, and alcohol-related driving fatalities?
In part it's because many people here feel compelled to include alcohol, and to excess - - , in so many activities, so many that we take them for granted - - pub crawls, St. Patrick's Day, OktoberFest.
Summerfest: music festival,or drinking festival, and stack-your-cups contest?
I was also struck by the fact that both Mayor Barrett and Mayor Soglin opposed licensing the beer-on-pedal-taverns.
No doubt there were irked at another hit to local controls and decision-making, but I am sure they have the data showing a huge percentage of their officers' expensive time is taken up with alcohol-related behaviors of many kinds.
And the Mayors were probably thinking, 'what, more drinking fun on our streets, out in the open?'
I noted that one of the pedal tavern operators was going to cut people off after 36 ounces of beer.
Would you want those partiers then driving your way later?
I am not suggesting that you are in any way an irresponsible person, and I am sure you will have a good time on the ride.
I am not out to kill your fun.
But I am saying that we ought to stop and look at the data and the culture and examine our fixation with alcohol, and why alcohol has to be connected to so many activities that can easily have consequences for both the drinker and the bystander.
I worked near one of the staging points for the pedal taverns in Milwaukee. They were a nuisance for the clients of neighboring businesses trying to navigate the streets, or enter parking areas. As the pedal taverns made their way around the route, they were a rolling traffic obstruction, with the added hazard of the possibility of someone falling off into traffic. My final complaint were those groups who felt it necessary to show up prior to their reserved time on the pedal tavern, and proceed to setup a pre-pedal tailgate party on the sidewalk, in the street, or in the parking lot of other nearby businesses—and leave their trash every where when they were done.
ReplyDeleteMr.Rowen is correct. Wisconsin has a serious problem with our collective need to associate inebriation as a prerequisite to any possibility of fun or entertainment.
I don't go to many Brewers games, but having grown up in Chicago I'm well aware that people have beers at the ball game. Now in the Brewers case the fact that it is all about tailgating is, to me, a concern as it directly connects drinking to driving.
ReplyDeleteTo me OWI is a reflection of car culture, anti-city policies, sprawl, and lack of transit options. I've actually broken people of their need to drive (this car mindset is very strong) from bar to bar, they still to go out today but they take a cab.
I'd argue most enjoy Summerfest, OktoberFest, and St. Paddy's.
I'd have to look at the law but I don't believe this is a hit to local control. Before there simply was no way for the city to regulate this. And now the Pedal Tavern is like a limo.
Yes and I believe the over reaction to drinking in public makes the impacts worse. In Europe I can grab a beer sit down in the park and nobody cares. And it's not the end of the world. They even serve in the parks, again not the end of the world.
"Would you want those partiers then driving your way later?" I guess the solution to this is ban alcohol? I say this in response because is there any difference to this question if it's on the Pedal Tavern or at the local Tavern? Nope.
Now my take is it is perfectly fine to drink, it is when driving is adding the equation that we have a problem.
Even the Germans banned them:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/06/germany-bans-beer-bikes-dusseldorf
Would be nice to see Milwaukee Police incident report statistics related to alchol vs. illegal drugs and a tie to domestic incidents vs. social incidents.
ReplyDeleteAt least we would see where the greater problem lies and whether this is an issue of proportion.
Just a word or two in response to Dave;
ReplyDeleteSomewhere in the late 80's I wrote a series for the Journal about alcohol risks other than OWI, which did and still gets major media attention (though not from the political process).
The trigger for the series was the death of two young teens (15 & 16?) who fell off a home-made raft on the Menomoneee River in the valley on a hot summer day and drowned.
Another example, as I recall, from memory, was that in the most recent year available for published data - - so perhaps '86? - - every snowmobile death that year in the state was alcohol-related.
I'll bet that is still the case, as it is with boating fatalities.
My point is that fun here is often organized around alcohol, and for some, the alcohol is why some participants are there in the first place.
Adding alcohol to driving is, as you say, a serious issue, and I am sure that sprawl makes the risks greater, but I can't blame the driving culture.
Drinking excessively is tolerated here in ways that are unique. Look at the only-in-the-nation permissive first-offensive OWI laws - - no misdemeanor in nearly all circumstances, no mandatory court appearance - - and a political culture in both parties terrified of powerful lobbies.
Every other state has its car culture but has managed to make OWI a crime on behalf of the larger populace.
Here, the political process puts the drunk driver first because politicians do not want to be accused of interfering with long-standing behaviors and practices.
Dave - - I left out of the rafting anecdote that the kids had been drinking beer. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteSome data:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jsonline.com/news/health/wisconsin-binge-drinking-exacts-68-billion-toll-new-report-says-4194g4u-197362241.html
A pub that pedals around on the streets. What could go wrong? Minneapolis: Pedal Pub crashes near Mill Ruins Park, riders taken away on stretchers [PHOTOS]
ReplyDeleteI met a woman from Wyoming once and we struck up a conversation about drinking. She made some kind of remark like "Wow you guys really drink in Wisconsin."
ReplyDeleteI said that people must drink in Wyoming too. She replied, "Yes but here in Wisconsin it's like a sport."
I think she hit the nail on the head. Wisconsin has a deserved reputation for being a hard drinking state. Think of all the social activities that are wrapped around drinking.
And think of the hypocrisy around it as well: it was more than a little amusing to have the UW-Madison try to change the culture of drinking on campus in Madison when they charge a pretty penny for the delicious beers at their student unions. How much money does UW-Madison take in in revenue from beer sales?
And now think about the social costs to the state of Wisconsin, from the emotional ravages of alcoholism, especially on children and families, to the loss of innocent lives from drunk driving to the physical diseases and deaths caused from merely consuming alcohol.
People forget that alcohol is a potent poison and a carcinogen. Yes, alcohol, even in small amounts, can cause cancer.
Has anyone done a thorough, well-designed study about the societal and economic costs that alcohol consumption causes in Wisconsin? Yes, brewing creates jobs, and it's nice to see successful small market breweries become successful. But what's the net economic cost of beer and alcohol consumption in Wisconsin?
I don't raise these issues because I want Wisconsin to "dry up." I raise these issues to inject a little realism.
So Mr. Rowen is right to ask why do we need yet another means and context in which to be able to consume alcohol when so much of our public life makes it easy and praises it already?
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the only pictures/video I've seen of these pubs is with the peddling seats on the outside, no railing and no safety belts. My very first thought was of inebriated customers falling backwards off the seats and onto the pavement causing serious head trauma. We insist that our kids wear bike helmets, why not safety bars, seat belts and helmets for these folks too?
ReplyDelete