Should bars be allowed to ”boot” vehicles of those too inebriated to drive?

No. They should not be serving someone that visibly drunk. But putting a boot on the car means a designated driver can’t drive the car home. It’s not the tavern’s car, and not tavern’s decision as to when the car owner is ready to drive again.

If someone is threatening to drive drunk, the bartender can threaten to call the police.

I sorta agree with both you and @zenvelo I have heard the bar can be held responsible ,so may be yes they should hold the vehicle until a proven sober person can drive it away.

@zenvelo “If someone is threatening to drive drunk, the bartender can threaten to call the police.”

That’s the thing though, people often don’t threaten, they just pull some ninja shit and vanish.

One night at work a friend came in and drank far too much. I took his keys from him and told him that when I got down work I’d gladly drive him home(he only lived a couple minutes away and I was done work in ~45 minutes.) I went to the bathroom, came out he was gone. I had his fuckin keys in my pocket yet he was gone. Turns out he had a spare key in his truck…. he also flipped the truck at the first turn down the road from my work.

He ended up getting out of any tickets but if something bad were to have happen I really don’t think the bar shoulda been at fault here, he was the asshole who dipped even when people where trying to prevent him from doing such.

It isn’t just about driving. It’s about being over served to the point of being a danger to yourself or others. You can aspirate or drown in your own vomit. You can die of alcohol poisoning. You can get raped, mugged, run over. Booting a car just makes some people think they can drink even more because now there’s no chance they would get behind the wheel.
If you want to protect people from drinking and driving then make a mandate for all new cars to be equipped with breathalyzers connected to the engine.

@GloPro While I agree with all those things, I still don’t agree that it’s the bars responsibility to make sure you don’t drink too much.(there are also some people that seem fine one minute and the next totally wacked, it’s hard for a bartender to keep track of all that, especially on a busy night) IMO You’re a grown up, act like one. Society is not here to coddle and protect you from yourself.

@uberbatman Well, we can agree with the law or not. It won’t change anything either way. So that being said, in this bullshit litigious society, yes, it is possible to keep an eye on your customers to a degree. Bartenders aren’t blind and most likely know they’ve seen the same face several times. It’s not like a lot of bartenders do regulate, but if someone was clearly intoxicated and you serve them one more drink you are opening yourself and your business up to a can of worms. Or worse. Does it still happen? Sure. Have I been over served? Absolutely. Did I wish they had cut me off? Well, maybe. I wish I hadn’t made an ass out of myself a few times because someone was willing to tell me I’ve had enough. What’s the harm in protecting me from morning guilt just by turning me away? Just because it’s the nice thing to do, from one human to another. It’s OK to just say no.
And as far as society being there to coddle and protect me, how many people have bad stories of a drunk that hurt someone else… fighting, driving drunk, etc. Is it my job to just protect myself?

How do they figure out which car is the right one? Wait for the drunk guy to go out to his car and then snap on a boot all of a sudden? It doesn’t seem realistic. I also think it is a horrible burden to make a bar responsible for someone getting drunk and driving home. Although, I understand the law. If the law wasn’t there bars would just serve and serve and serve (I think that is what they usually do even with the law).

@GloPro If you want to protect people from drinking and driving then make a mandate for all new cars to be equipped with breathalyzers connected to the engine.
They could defeat that depending on the neighborhood, they can just pay a sober passer by some money to blow into the device, thus getting their car started.

@Hypocrisy_Central Nope. You can program them to go off randomly while driving. You have 5 minutes to blow a passing breath or it registers a fail. In addition, some systems have a camera or identifying device that ensures the intended is blowing. That’s for DUI violators, tho, not your everyday blow-n-go. It’s become pretty high tech.
You’d also be surprised at people not being willing to do that for you, as well.

“You can program them to go off randomly while driving. You have 5 minutes to blow a passing breath or it registers a fail.”

That surely doesn’t sound like a distraction or anything. And if you fail to to blow into it, does your car stop dead in the middle of the highway?

No. The reason there is a 5 minute timer is to give you time to pull safely to the side of the road. Not that anyone ever does, you just pick it up and blow while driving. Not a big deal. And no, the car will not stop working. It sends a “fail” message to the provider of the device, the court system and the probation officer. Then it gets worse for you. Better to just follow the rules and not drink and drive.
There are different types of breath violations registered. Fail can mean not using the device within the allotted time, or failing to blow a pass within a certain number of tries. The device will lock you out of being able to start the engine if you get three ‘fail’ messages sent out. You have to answer to your probie and possibly go to court when that happens. Or you can get a ‘Violation’ message sent. That means you had alcohol register. Your vehicle will not start (or will not start again if you were driving). You definitely have to go to court, and most likely jail, if that happens.