Planning a big dinner out with children soon? At Peddler's Bar and Bistro in upstate New York, you won't be getting a buzz on while kicking back with the kids.
A long-standing restaurant policy prohibits any customer who is the designated driver for a group with at least one child from consuming more than one alcoholic drink during a meal at the Clifton Park establishment.
"We love children. Everybody loves children and children don't have a voice," general manager Melisa Gravelle told WKBN of the policy, which has been in effect since 2010.
She continued, "I could never live with myself knowing that I killed somebody driving."
The restaurant's mandate doesn't just apply to parents. Any guardian accompanying a child will be subject to the rule but patrons dining without kids are able to imbibe as they wish. When two or more adults are dining with children, the policy is only applied to the person who claims to be the designated driver. Though Gravelle says she's heard very few complaints over the years, some patrons and other parents on social media have conflicting opinions about the bistro's rule.
Yet the policy is detailed on the restaurant's website as part of a "commitment to end fatalities from drinking and driving."
Though the rule has been in place for many years, the idea is going viral with many customers praising the cafe — while others feel the rule is overbearing.
The policy stands amidst a recent rise in drunk driving deaths. The CDC reports that there were 10,265 drunk driving deaths in 2015 and 16 percent of traffic accident victims 14 years old or younger were involved in accidents caused by drunk drivers.
So what do you think? Should parents dining with children be cut off at one drink?