© 2005 Behavioral Health Research Institute of the Southwest
612 Encino Place NE / Albuquerque, NM 87102 / 505.244.3099 / www.bhrcs.org

Consequences of the Drive-Up Liquor Window Closure in New Mexico
Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Substance Abuse Policy Research Program

The 1998 banning of drive-up liquor windows in New Mexico was an important milestone in pubic health. However, the effects of the ban are not yet known.

BHRCS is using this unique opportunity in New Mexico to study how the closures have and have not affected New Mexicans. We are conducting telephone interviews of liquor-store proprietors, analyzing alcohol-related crashes, and examining drunk-driving recidivism. Our results should have major implications for the state and national debates about the efficacy of such closures.

New Mexico became the 27th state to ban drive-up liquor windows; drive-through liquor sales are still permitted by 23 states. Although drive-up liquor windows are often cited as a major contributor to drunk driving — the rationale being that drive-up liquor windows make alcohol more accessible to minors and severe problem drinkers — more solid evidence needs to be gathered. Legislators require better and more meaningful data to make their arguments.

For instance, Senator Jeff Bingaman introduced a bill requiring states to ban drive-up liquor windows to be eligible for federal highway money, but the bill failed.

This study will evaluate the effects of the NM legislative action to close drive-up liquor windows on:

• the retail establishments that operated drive-up liquor windows to determine the economic impact, if any, on retailers and other businesses that depend on alcohol sales;
• the spatial pattern of total crashes, alcohol-related crashes, and single vehicle nighttime crashes in New Mexico to determine whether there has been a change in the frequency of crashes near drive-up windows,
• drunk driving arrests and traffic crashes among two groups of previously-arrested drunk drivers to determine whether they are less likely to be involved in crashes or be re-arrested during the two-year period after the closures, and 
• people living in close proximity to the drive-up liquor windows.

BHRCS is currently undertaking an exhaustive study of the closure and its effects upon businesses, drunk driving crashes, arrest rates of previously convicted drunk drivers, and people living in the vicinity of the drive-up windows.