The Department of Transportation appears keenly interested in the happiness of tipsy passengers in South Dakota. Their proposed revision of aviation law would remove restrictions on open alcoholic beverage containers in airplanes. The DOT now wants to clarify similar privileges extended to passengers on the party bus.
Current state law exempts certain "carriers" from the open container law. But the way that statute is written, the driver of an officially licensed party bus or limousine could have an open beer between his legs and not be breaking the law. Oops.
Senate Bill 39 fixes that oversight. The proposed text makes clear that the passengers can crack open the cold ones, but that "The driver of such carrier is prohibited from possessing in the driver compartment of the vehicle a package or receptacle containing an alcoholic beverage if the original package seal has been broken."
I'm glad we could take care of that problem. Party on, passengers!
Clear cut case of discrimination against bus drivers. In a plane you can set autopilot and then the pilot can go tip a few w/o technically breaking the law. Busses can't do that. They would have to allow an unauthorized driver to spot the regular driver so he can party. Whose got the phone number for the ACLU?