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It’s likely that, a time or two, you’ve been a bit too drunk at the bar and kept going. You’re slurring, staggering, and maybe you just ordered one or two more. Without a second thought, the busy bartenders pours you up a drink, prints your tab, and goes on her way. However, paying more mind to those customers and understanding the role you can play in Responsible Beverage Service (or, RBS) could significantly decrease the number of DUI’s. While to many people who have never worked in a bar or restaurant, not over-serving seems like a cake walk. However, your bartenders and servers are incredible busy. So, unless you’re falling over or asleep on the bar— it’s an easy thing to miss. So, that’s where RBS comes in.

Responsible Beverage Service: Reducing DUI Cases

According to studies, about half of intoxicated drivers receive their last drink at a licensed bar. In that case, bar tenders are over serving customers who already had enough to drink. Of course, determining whether you need to cut someone off can be difficult thing to recognize. Not to mention, knowing if they’re going to drive home or take an Uber is not really at the top of your list.

As a bar tender, your job is to supply customers with drinks and thereby, make the bar money. So it only comes natural to continue pouring when people ask for it. In addition, it can sometimes be hard to recognize when someone has had enough to drink. Since each person handles their alcohol differently, it can vary from person to person. In some cases, a person may seem to a total stranger as if they are completely sober. When really, they might blow well over the legal limit. So knowing when to cut someone off can be difficult.

Recognizing the signs

While as a bartender, you are not responsible for the person driving, you are responsible for not serving one person too much alcohol. Which is why responsible beverage service can help reduce the number of drinking and driving cases. RBS programs provide training for bar tenders and restaurant employees to help them keep a better grasp on how much is too much. In short, they help develop the skill to identify who should not receive alcohol service. Furthermore, these programs also help teach the proper ways to go about refusing someone service.

Cutting someone off can be quite a task

If you’ve ever been on the service side of cutting someone off, you know it typically does not go over too smoothly. Telling someone you know their tolerance better than they do, can cause for a pretty adverse reaction. So, that’s where programs such as RBS come into place. It will not make people value your opinion more, but it will help you have a process in place for if that time comes.

It’s not your job to make sure that people aren’t drinking and driving. Your responsibility merely lies in making sure they are still of sound enough mind for you to serve them. So, considering one of these training courses as a restaurant or bar manager or owner, is a smart idea. Studies show a reduction of drunk driving cases in areas that practice RBS. With less alcohol in their bodies, people can have better judgment and decide not to drink and drive.