Out-of-towners taking in the Frost Bank Building from The Ginger Man’s patio
By all accounts and measures, SXSW 2014 was a juggernaut. The festival of all festivals had record attendance this year, along with more national and global media coverage than ever before. The latter, unfortunately, wasn’t always for the best of reasons.
At approximately 12:30 AM on Thursday March 13th, Rashad Charjuan Owens evaded police capture for a suspected DUI arrest and rammed through a barricade near 11th St. and Red River, killing 3 people and injuring dozens of others before he was finally captured just a few minutes after initially fleeing.
Even though South by Southwest has now been around for 27 years, those few minutes will forever alter how we view our biggest party of the year.
Just over a week later, the city of Austin is still reeling from the aftermath, unsure how to process our feelings of anger and shock. Who can we blame for this tragic accident? Surely it wasn’t just the devastatingly poor judgment of a young 21 year old kid; there has to be a better explanation.
As Austin woke up to the news just a few hours later, the questions and accusations came pouring in. Predictably enough, much of the media coverage centered around the excessive party culture Austin is notorious for. At the peak of our biggest festival of the year, did we finally reach our breaking point?
We may not know the answer to that question just yet, but it’s vitally important that we shift the conversation from mere accusations to a constructive dialogue on how we can do better as a city.
“Does Austin Have a Drinking Problem?”
It’s a juicy headline to be sure, and not one without merit. The Austin American-Statesmen’s report last Saturday on the rate of alcohol consumption in Travis County provided compelling evidence to backup the statement. Over the last 10 years, the 78701 zip code that contains Downtown Austin is far and away the booziest zip in the entire state of Texas, with 3 times higher consumption than the #2 spot, 78704, which just happens to be just south of downtown. Jimmy Kimmel opened up his first SXSW Austin show at The Long Center by saying we have a drinking problem, and that his trip to Austin was really an intervention.
Jimmy Kimmel brought up Austin’s drinking culture during every monologue of each show
As a willing participant in this type of drinking culture, I have to admit Jimmy and the Statesmen aren’t that far off the mark. Austin is a real-world incarnation of Never-Never Land, where you never have to grow up. Where there is always a bar around every corner, a friend always around to share a drink, and no one to chastise you for over-doing it. Within a national culture of excess, we take it to the next level. It’s the reason why we top so many national best-of lists, and also the reason why so many people absolutely love the city of Austin.
Austin has a world-class social scene with a high tolerance for excessive partying. But as we push the limits of what may be socially acceptable, we must find a way to responsibly deal with the issue of drunk driving. The City of Austin needs to do more, or at the very least do something new. We need fresh approaches to an age-old problem. Stiffer penalties and more law enforcement is simply not enough. Even our own police chief, Art Acevedo, is quoted as saying he does not believe more police is the answer. When was the last time you heard a city’s top cop say more police is not the solution?
How Can WE Do Better?
Without new and creative solutions, this problem will not go away. Throwing accusations around will not make excessive drinking stop. A significant part of the culture of Austin is built around our social scene. Take that away and you begin to lose the free spirited flow of ideas as well. We cannot let the reckless actions of one person ruin it for everyone else, as often happens in our society. So what else can we do?
The usual responses are still valid:
- Extend the CAP Metro Light Rail hours, and make sure people know they have that option.
- Provide more buses late at night to take people home, maybe even offering free rides.
- Mandate certain city parking lots downtown to be partially zoned for overnight parking.
- How about we pursue the drunk tank concept that has gone around for the better part of a decade? (Glad to see this is starting to finally get traction.)
- Incentivize taxi drivers to stick around once the bars close.
These ideas have been tossed around for years without any real action. Other than harsher punishments for drunk driving, what has the city really done to pro-actively solve the problem? Stopping drunk drivers when they are already on the road is purely reactive, and by that point it’s already too late.
Sixth Street crowds during daylight hours of SXSW 2014
Ultimately though, the burden falls upon us. We must take responsibility for our own actions. We have to pick up our friends’ keys if they’ve had one too many and moderate our own consumption throughout the night. We can’t be blaming, and suing, the bartenders and bars that over-serve us. And we can’t be blaming a city’s drinking problem when a non-resident comes through and shatters dozens of lives.
The solutions I mentioned above are nowhere near enough. We are a creative city and must come up with creative solutions. So this is where you come in, our beloved Austinot community. What else do you think we can do to address drinking and driving in Austin?
SXSW Cares
As of Thursday morning, fundraising efforts for the victims of the SXSW tragedy had collectively raised almost $200,000. Astonishing considering it had only been one week. If you would like to donate, you can still do so at SXSWcares.com. If you want to be more specific about your donation, you can donate directly to help the family of Sandy Le, the 3rd person to perish from the accident. Donations are intended to cover medical and funeral expenses, and you can give at fundly.com/assistance-for-sandy-le.
@Crafty_Ed asks:
What types of creative solutions do you think the City of Austin can implement to help reduce drunk driving?
Cover photo by Michael Lambie via Flickr CC.
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The issue of drunk driving is a tough one. A shortage of licences and high licence fees keep cab fares high, whilst still leaving cab drivers with little.
Austin is also a huge city, which limits the effectiveness of bus routes, although I think every route should at least run an hourly late night bus
A creative approach that I heard was creating a leniency at the late hours (say midnight to 4am) where drivers who are within a tier over the limit, but below wasted, can drive in the right hand lane at massively reduced speeds with hazards flashing. So driving at 15mph in a 30mph zone to get home.
My personal idea is to mesh services like the oft’ mourned HeyRide to the current capabilities of the public transportation system. Have an app where people enter an address, they are given a line number, and people at similar destinations can catch the same bus which will go close to peoples homes rather than along a fixed route. There are hundreds of people waiting for cabs on a night, most of these people would gladly pay $4-$5 to get on a bus that would get them home, albeit slower than a taxi, but without the wait times or that $10-$30 cost if going solo. A ‘mass transit taxi’ would require some software implementation, but we already have a fleet of buses that are not used during those hours. Best of all, this is one of the few solutions that would reduce the non-profitability issue of late night mass transit systems.
I’m sure there would be issues with this idea, but nothing that couldn’t be ironed out by a smart team.
Exactly the type of response i was looking for. We are already known as a high-tech city, why not put some of that to good use? Uber and other ride sharing technologies are already showing what can be done with slick design and a creative idea. I’m sure something like a mass transit taxi could be feasible with the right technology.
The bigger question is why are there drunk drivers in the first place? What can we do to change the drinking culture? Why can’t Austin-ites enjoy an evening out with just a drink or two, and take in all the great music, etc. the city has to offer? You don’t really see the conference attendees getting rip roaring drunk – at least not to the degree it happens with the locals.
I would disagree, Me and a few friends did plenty of people spotting from the patio of Halcyon and there was definitely a lot more wasted than normal.
The reason why we get drunk drivers is simply because some people enjoy drinking, and there are limited options for getting home. Even if you just have around 4 drinks over the space of four hours, you wont be driving sober, but a taxi can easily ad 50% to 100% on to the cost of your evening.
Thanks for writing this article, Edgar. Austin is a rapidly growing city filled with young party goers. Questions like yours are going to have to be addressed if we want our fun-loving culture to live on safely.
That’s all really. I just wanted to say that I support everything you’re saying. Raising awareness is the first step, and I’m proud of the Austinot for doing its part.
I think we should also consider towing of many, many vehicles at a major “unnamed” park and ride, that were only on the street because of parking lot overflow and were trying to be RESPONSIBLE SXSW patrons…. How many people will not come back next year because of it? We need to let the “Austin Powers” know that Austin is unique… and should remain that way. Sometimes “Wierd” means letting people park on the streets (AWAY from the major event) so they can enjoy what is best about Austin like the rest of the world…. and be safe doing it… and does anyone realize the sobering effect of a long bus ride?
I heard this quite a bit and just don’t understand how the city plans to benefit from towing near park and rides. Sure you get the short term fines but thats just short-sighted and doesn’t help anyone in the long run.
Increasing options for public transportation is an obvious win. However, there should also be a no self-parking rule during sxsw. All parking should be valet only. Set up a system where valets are the gate keepers between potential drunk drivers and their cars. There are a lot of logistics to be sorted out, but this is the basic concept.
Also, look at long term opportunities to change the drinking culture in Austin. It’s likely a 5-10+ year process. Perhaps look at what cities like Boston and San Francisco are doing. They are also college towns but tend to balance nightlife with outdoor and artistic activities. It’s embarrassing to show visitors around downtown and navigate thru all of the drunk, obnoxious crowds… and unfortunately it’s not just the college students.
It would be difficult to get an entire city to change its drinking culture but I do like the idea of looking to other city’s and measuring their response. Having more activities to do downtown is one response, as it draws a different crowd and provides a different vibe. More museums and art installations surely couldnt hurt!
The problem here is the driving while intoxicated. As a supporter of MADD , I think this organization should be invited to venues that have alcohol to remind people of responsible drinking and not driving while drunk.MADD would be perfect to sit on the planning committee. Four innocent lives lost last month now shed light on the problem Austin has.
If one is so impaired they are unable to drive, ,walk home, call a cab,,take a bus, call your mother, your brother or the police. A night in jail could save your on life .
Here’s the issue with what happened:
This man didn’t value lives; his or anyone else. This is beyond drunk driving. That’s not a problem Austin has.
To address the problem Austin has:
We have a train that stops moving at 12. WHAT?! WHY?!
We have buses that stop before 2 AM. WHY?!
Taxis can never be found, overcharge, say really gross, inappropriate things, etc.
Pubs should be built in neighborhoods so that it’s just a stroll home, rather than a 10 mile drive.
There are so many solutions, but this man is NOT an Austin problem; he’s a psychological problem.
The solution to this problem starts by fast tracking the approval for Uber and other ride sharing options. It is criminal the City has blocked this to protect these Taxi/Limo lobbys. There is NO WAY someone will ever rely on the current joke Taxi system after one night of being unable to secure one after 1:00am. Women feel flat out unsafe and exposed without a secure reliable way to get home safely. If you make the good,sober decision to not drive BEFORE you go out then there is no car to drive home drunk!!