DUI A Concern For St Petersburg If Bars Are Allowed To Stay Open Until 3:00 AM
St. Petersburg is considering extending closing times at its bars from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. to help the city compete with Tampa’s thriving nightlife. One concern voiced at yesterday’s City Council meeting was the threat of more incidents of drunk driving if Pinellas bars stay open later. The sheriff’s department has already eliminated the DUI unit due to budget cuts.
Police chief Chuck Harmon was concerned about drunk drivers and expressed that at a committee meeting according to My Fox Tampa Bay. Harmon felt that if St Pete acted alone it would create problems that wouldn’t occur if all the bars in Pinellas and surrounding hours extended their closing times. Under the current proposal the number of people leaving a bar that closes at 2:00 to get to one that closes at 3:00 can dramatically increase the number of drunk drivers on St Petersburg roads.
