You get angry at the bartender who served the girl, but let me give you the
underaged perspective on it (from someone who won't be 21 until April). While
I would never drive drunk or condone anything of the kind, this is very likely
a consequence of having the drinking age be 21 rather than 18. This girl
probably drove home because her parents would be angry if they knew she was
drinking underage. If she had been of legal age, she could have called them
and asked for a ride or stayed with a friend or something. I'm not saying she
would have, but it would have been more of an option. In a fuzzy state, she
may have thought that getting home before curfew or whatever was more
important than safety. Again, I'm not putting the blame completely on the
drinking age etc, but it definitely plays a factor. As for the responsibility
of the bartender, recent technological innovations and sheer tenacity on the
part of underage drinkers results in some incredibly realistic-looking IDs.
Put yourself in teh situation of the bartender - he's busy as hell, even if he
did ask for ID, in a darkened, crowded bar, he can't check just how real the
watermark or other security features look.
And even that can be defeated. I know a guy who, three years ago at age 17,
got his hands on an Arizona state seal (don't ask me how). He made a fake
birth certificate, walked into the DMV and got a real driver's license showing
him to be 21. It's a genuine license that would pass inspection anywhere, even
by a police officer checking it against the database. Like I said, there are
some ingenious underage kids who will do anythign for a fake id.
Just so you know, I don't have a fake and I've never drank in a bar in the US.
I thought about it but the effort never seemed worth it to me; alcohol is
expensive and I have friends who can get stuff for me from stores. The only
time I drink in bars is when I'm out of the country, and driving isn't an
issue there.
This is a terrible tragedy, but keep in mind that there are other issues
around.
meer