Originally Posted by
Milton Keynes
Is it still legal to drink & drive in Louisiana? That is, legal to drive while drinking an alcoholic drink? I remember seeing a drive-through bar where you could order drinks to go on a documentary once. I was shaking my head because in my state they're pretty strict on alcohol, not even allowing anything over 3.2% beer to be sold in grocery stores.
It never was legal to drink and drive in Louisiana, even when the drinking age was 18 (we were the LAST state to go to the 21 minimum). It is illegal to have an open alcoholic beverage INSIDE of a moving vehicle at any time, even passengers. Also, most people do not realize that it is actually illegal to walk on any street in Louisiana - even New Orleans - with an open alcohol beverage! However, the law is only enforced if you are drinking out of a can, bottle, or pretty much anything EXCEPT a plastic or paper cup - known as a "Go Cup" locally.
Drive-through Daiquiri shops evade the law by putting a piece of tape over the straw hole in the lid of a daiquiri as it is handed to the car occupants at the drive-thru. Hence, it is a "sealed" container by law. But legally, it should not even be inside the car, not even the back seat with a passenger once the tape is removed.
One thing I love about New Orleans is "our" predisposition to not obeying laws and not enforcing laws like some totalitarian state. However, obviously, this laissez-faire attitude does have it's drawbacks. And just let me say that if you get drunk and MESS UP....then you pay big time. Sadly, others may end up hurt or dead in the process. And if you get caught intoxicated behind the wheel, even without hurting anyone, you will be very sorry. Your life will be ruined for years to come. There are random checkpoints. So I guess this helps a little when a dragnet gets covered by local news stations after a big haul.
The saying "Buzzed driving is drunk driving" does not apply here. Half of the population would already be in jail. If you can pass a curb-side sobriety test, you are good to go.
In defense of NOPD: Certain parts of the French Quarter are obviously loaded with staggering drunks. It is amazing just how much officers will put up with down there. You can literally be as wasted as you want to be. However, if you are told to do something, or stop doing something by NOPD on Bourbon Street, and are too drunk to follow a command or get belligerent with them, it is highly likely you will fall down a flight of stairs and land on five Tasers and three German Shepherds on the way to jail. Every time a home video of NOPD wailing on some drunk in the French Quarter makes national news, all of us New Orleaneans wonder "What on Earth did that guy do to the cops to activate their 'attitude adjustment' mode". You gotta mess up pretty badly for them to want to write up a report and drag you away. And if you resist arrest...God help you.