New Mexico is the fifth-largest state in the union. The city of Albuquerque sits right about the dead center and boasts the largest urban concentration in all the land of enchantment. “Concentration,” however, might be too strong a word for Albuquerque’s layout. The city spills forth from the base of the Sandia mountains, cascades alongside Sandia pueblo before butting up against Rio Rancho and turning southwest heading out into the desert with no constraints. The extent to which Albuquerque has spread since its inception in the 1700s is a dream come true for car salesmen everywhere. The lack of any meaningful public transportation means that Burqueňos must drive themselves everywhere in the city, while in every condition. Exhausted from a newborn crying? Drive to work. On new medication? Drive to the grocery. Excited to go on a date? Drive to the bar. Had a few too many beers on a date? Drive home. I’ve lived in New Mexico my whole life and the mantra that New Mexicans are terrible drivers is a tried and true favorite. Except in recent years, I have come to take up the issue with this old chestnut. I don't believe that we New Mexicans are inherently worse drivers than those in other states, instead, as alluded to earlier; we are forced to drive constantly and with little regard to our mental or physical state. This necessity is one brought about by our own design; that of urban sprawl.

 

Turn on the TV and tune into any of the local channels and I would bet you'll eventually be treated to a public service announcement put on by the local government. Almost certainly it will pertain to drunk driving, and the many reasons not to do it. Recently, one of these adverts struck a particular chord with me. I spent two years behind the bar at a local brewery and had always tried to serve alcohol in a responsible manner but at the end of the day, I couldn't predict or control any of my patron's actions. So when I saw the ENDWI campaign ad, “It’s My Job” which featured bartenders and servers all agreeing that it was their job to ensure patrons were not overserved, I agreed, but it felt an awful lot like the state was passing the buck. Rather than make some fundamental changes to our state law and thereby to our cities which would be a more profound step in reducing DWI incidents.

 

One of the fundamental issues with New Mexico’s drunk driving history is the state's liquor licensing laws. The State issues only one license per 2000 people. This drives the cost of obtaining liquor licenses up to unreasonable rates. The average cost of a New Mexico liquor license is well over $300,000. This, in turn, makes it untenable and certainly unprofitable for a New Mexican to open up a neighborhood bar, instead, large bars and clubs are opened in commercial centers outside of the traditionally populated areas. While it may seem that having bars operate outside of heavily populated areas would be safer for potential victims of drunk driving accidents, the opposite is actually true. Instead of having drinking dispersed throughout cities, we concentrate on the potential dangers in areas far outside the drinker's neighborhood and thereby encouraging the drinkers to drive great distances home. If New Mexico’s liquor licensing laws were changed, I suspect the number of neighborhood bars would increase and the number of DWI arrests would drastically decrease. Of course, there is no magic law that when enacted will eradicate drunken driving however reforming current laws is a good place to start.

 

Not only would the increase in neighborhood bars decrease drunk driving it would also be a valuable tool in fighting urban sprawl. People would be more desirous of living within walking distance of their favorite pub. This would lead to more cohesive neighborhoods with more individual characters, rather than cookie-cutter suburbs that despite their massive sprawl are all virtually the same driving time from all the popular bars. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that New Mexico will ever change it’s liquor licensing laws. The current system is all too lucrative for the handful of business folk who own liquor licenses.

 

They view the maintaining of the small number of licenses as an imperative and view any talk of reformation as an existential threat towards their business model. The current model allows the holder of the license to rent it out, sell it, or pass it down to their children. It is treated very much like a mobile piece of real estate. The most valuable thing about mobile real estate? It defies the old convention that the most important aspect of any property is; location, location, location.