San Juan’s Ban on the Joint Sale of Alcohol and Gasoline

On behalf of the San Juan Capistrano City Council, the following is a response to your editorial “Jumping to Conclusions” (Aug. 25).

Waiting until the statistics are “in” to determine if a relationship exists between the joint sale of gasoline and alcoholic beverages at gasoline stations may prove to be a case of “too little, too late.” San Juan Capistrano’s ban on the joint sale of alcoholic beverages and gasoline is a proactive effort to reduce the unnecessary loss of life and property that occurs in accidents involving drunken drivers.

Local statistics as reported in your newspaper overwhelmingly support the seriousness of drinking and driving:

- 125 men, women and children are killed by drunken drivers each year in Orange County.

- 3,500 people are injured each year by drunken drivers in the county.

The stories on the Ortega Highway deaths alone would suggest the need for additional restrictions. Though no San Juan Capistrano gasoline stations now sell alcoholic beverages, our proximity to the beaches and other recreational areas may influence transient drivers to stop in our community for “one for the road.”

Our efforts to make this kind of alcoholic beverage purchase a little less convenient for automobile operators may result in fewer drunken drivers on the road. If even one accident or death were to be prevented because of our joint alcoholic beverages and gasoline sales ban, our ordinance is justifiable.

In San Juan Capistrano, we believe it is obvious that drinking and driving do not mix. We think your readers and our residents will agree with us.

PHILLIP R. SCHWARTZE

Mayor,

San Juan Capistrano