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Across the US, many cities are full of hundreds and thousands of bars with people getting drunk. Then at about 1:30 or 1:40, which is when a lot of people are just starting to get really drunk, the lights turn on and it's time to go.
Then of course there are gangs of cops stalking drunk drivers. Drunk people everywhere trying to drive home. Wasted people roaming the streets because they can't drive and the bars have closed. And people having "after parties" at their houses because the bars have all shut down.
I was recently living in a country where the bars stayed open all night. I didn't see it causing any problems at all. It was probably a good thing actually, because it didn't encourage drunk driving. And it was also a lot more fun
To make drunk drivers all go out and start driving at the same time, in the belief that they are then less likely to run into each other. Or maybe so the police can eat doughnuts until 2 am, then go issue their quota of tickets in an hour, and then go back to the coffee shop.
As I recall, the rationales for bar closing times include - decreasing the incidence of crimes like DUIs and bar fights, on the theory that if people have less time to drink in public places following work hours, there will be fewer incidences of people getting excessively drunk in public, and thus fewer crimes for which public excessive drunkness is a precondition; According to an opinion reserach "This would save lives,"' people who drink and drive always are thinking about the D.W.I. arrest, but at 4 A.M. and after there aren't many cops around.
There really aren't any rational reasons. There are MANY areas of the country where alcohol can be legally sold after 2 A.M. However, Nevada is the only state in the country where there are statewide 24 hour alcohol sales at bars/convenience stores, etc. Last time I checked, they were nowhere near the top of per capita drunk driving fatalities by state. Oddly enogh, the South registers the greatest number of drunk driving fatalities by state, and, for the most part, they have the most stringent drinking laws. However, Mississippi does allow drivers to drink while driving as long as the driver stays below the legal .08% limit.
I would guess most restrictions on alcohol sales were formulated when religion played a very large role in lawmaking.
Along the same lines is how dry counties are sometimes the most drunken since the residents sometimes stockpile booze and drink excessively if they make the trip to a bar in another county. In Vegas you don't have to hurry up and drink your fill before last call. You just drink until you are done (one drink or twenty) and move on. Much more civilized.
In answer to the question I think it is because all those 'upstanding' citizens don't want to be running into drunks at 6am while jogging or going to church. Gotta keep 'em separated.
I always thought it was to keep drunks out of the way of the morning commute of regular folks. By the time that is up and running they are home, or at a breakfast joint call "Cheap, Strong and Greasy".
I don't think it is effective personally. In every place i've been to with 24 hour drinking, it seemed like the DUI problem wasn't really any worse and statistics show this as well. It seemed better actually, because people would actually sober up before trying to travel.
Forcing people to leave at 2 a.m. seems like a bigger problem to me. Everyone tries to get all thier partying in within a few hour time frame. Then at the end you have people slamming their drinks and being forced out onto the streets. It's nonsense.
Also. If American cities actually had decent subway systems and public transportation at night, people would just use that instead. But that's a whole other topic.
On Long Island they close at 4 AM, at least most of them. I noticed in other states they tend to close much earlier.
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