Instead of having to chug that bottle of wine that you and your significant other have sitting in front of you during that special meal, you will likely be able to take it home and avoid driving after drinking too much.
The North Dakota House on Friday voted 89-1 to approve a bill that allows restaurant diners to take home unfinished bottles of wine they buy with their meals. This is good, common sense legislation, especially in light of the intense effort in our state to fight drinking and driving on our roadways.
Under current law, an unfinished bottle of wine purchased during a meal must be left behind. This encourages those who purchase a bottle of wine to finish it before departing the restaurant, thus increasing the possibility of facing a driving under the influence charge.
The new law would allow a bottle of wine to be taken home if the bottle is sealed and the bottle is accompanied by a restaurant receipt.
We would expect restaurants to include the cost of the device to effectively seal the bottle of wine in a diner's check, as we do not expect the business owners to simply absorb such costs.
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Again, this bill makes sense and deserves to be supported in the Senate and signed by Gov. John Hoeven.
