Mobile Trolley Pub set to cruise the streets of Arlington

[baiskeli]

@Tim Kelley 44745 wrote:

How about cocktails on an airplane?

Sure! You buying?

[ShawnoftheDread]

@baiskeli 44744 wrote:

Yeah.

This begs the question, do newspapers need to be as dumb as blogs to survive?

Gah!

[jrenaut]

My only problem with this is that, from their Facebook page, the target market seems to be Arlington’s finest 23-year-olds with more money than sense. Perhaps we could talk to them about one model that has Strava built in – free ride if you get a KOM.

[Mark Blacknell]

@baiskeli 44744 wrote:

Yeah.

This begs the question, do newspapers need to be as dumb as blogs to survive?

WaPo’s working on it. Also, the explanation for why this is legal (not something I’m entirely convinced of) is incorrect. “Since Trolley Pub counts as a registered, for-hire vehicle, like a limousine, there’s no ban on open containers.” No. There’s no ban on open containers because . . . there’s no ban on open containers for passengers in Virginia!

[baiskeli]

@Mark Blacknell 44760 wrote:

WaPo’s working on it. Also, the explanation for why this is legal (not something I’m entirely convinced of) is incorrect. “Since Trolley Pub counts as a registered, for-hire vehicle, like a limousine, there’s no ban on open containers.” No. There’s no ban on open containers because . . . there’s no ban on open containers for passengers in Virginia!

I looked that up a while back, Mark, and I remember being disappointed to find that you’re wrong. I remember finding such a prohibition in state code.

I’ll try to find it again.

[Mark Blacknell]

@baiskeli 44762 wrote:

I looked that up a while back, Mark, and I remember being disappointed to find that you’re wrong. I remember finding such a prohibition in state code.

I’ll try to find it again.

Please do. Here, I’ll give you a head start.

[jabberwocky]

@Tim Kelley 44745 wrote:

How about cocktails on an airplane?

I think theres a big difference between a conveyance where the pilot/driver is completely segregated from passengers (like a plane, or a train) and one where they are mixing with the drinkers/passengers.

But whatever. Alcohol yay!

[baiskeli]

@Mark Blacknell 44763 wrote:

Please do. Here, I’ll give you a head start.

I don’t like doing this.

§ 4.1-308. Drinking alcoholic beverages, or offering to another, in public place; penalty; exceptions.
A. If any person takes a drink of alcoholic beverages or offers a drink thereof to another, whether accepted or not, at or in any public place, he shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+4.1-308

Now, the question is – does a beer trolley on a trail have to come to a complete stop before crossing a road in Falls Church?

[Mark Blacknell]

@baiskeli 44765 wrote:

I don’t like doing this.

§ 4.1-308. Drinking alcoholic beverages, or offering to another, in public place; penalty; exceptions.
A. If any person takes a drink of alcoholic beverages or offers a drink thereof to another, whether accepted or not, at or in any public place, he shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+4.1-308

What does that have to do with an open container law for passengers in a vehicle?

[baiskeli]

@Mark Blacknell 44766 wrote:

What does that have to do with an open container law for passengers in a vehicle?

Ah. whoops. I misread you, and confused this with someone else who made a different claim.

Yeah, good point.

I need to stop drinking so early in the morning.

[Mark Blacknell]

@baiskeli 44767 wrote:

Ah. whoops. I misread you, and confused this with someone else who made a different claim.

Yeah, good point.

I need to stop drinking so early in the morning.

I prefer to just play it straight through, myself.

There’s one upside, I suppose, to Virginia’s lack of an open container law. Because Virginia doesn’t comply with the Federal requirements for open container laws, they are required to transfer large sums of Federal highway money to safety and other uses ($17m, last year). One of those uses is the Virginia Capital Trail, it turns out. So, lax drinking and driving laws = more multi-use trails, I guess.

[baiskeli]

@Mark Blacknell 44768 wrote:

I prefer to just play it straight through, myself.

There’s one upside, I suppose, to Virginia’s lack of an open container law. Because Virginia doesn’t comply with the Federal requirements for open container laws, they are required to transfer large sums of Federal highway money to safety and other uses ($17m, last year). One of those uses is the Virginia Capital Trail, it turns out. So, lax drinking and driving laws = more multi-use trails, I guess.

See, this is all working out.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Mark Blacknell 44760 wrote:

WaPo’s working on it. Also, the explanation for why this is legal (not something I’m entirely convinced of) is incorrect. “Since Trolley Pub counts as a registered, for-hire vehicle, like a limousine, there’s no ban on open containers.” No. There’s no ban on open containers because . . . there’s no ban on open containers for passengers in Virginia!

I’m glad to know I don’t need to stash my flask in the trunk. Why had no one told me this sooner?!

[bobco85]

I’m curious to see where (how wide of an area) this would operate, although my inital guess would be Clarendon. Who knows, maybe a group will start at Shirlington and go up Heartbreak Hill (Walter Reed Dr from 4MR)!

The beer trolley looks like it’d be nice for enjoying a few drinks, but I would not want anyone getting wasted (which does not appeal to me in the slightest) on something like that.

[Mark Blacknell]

@ShawnoftheDread 44770 wrote:

I’m glad to know I don’t need to stash my flask in the trunk. Why had no one told me this sooner?!

Just to clarify things – taking, uh, “advantage” of this law isn’t a very good idea. The linked law creates a “rebuttable presumption” about drinking while driving that could easily come into play if, say, you’d had a single beer at happy hour, your passengers pile into the car with go cups, and then you get pulled over for some other reason on the way home. Would result in an expensive tour of the court system, I’d bet.

One is on somewhat safer ground if the driver – say, Chris! – hasn’t had a drop, and the passengers decide to go to town. Still, that’s not something I’d want to risk as the driver. But I guess these trolley folks are comfortable with it. Man, I cannot wait until one of them takes a side trip on a Friday night into Lyon Village. That’s gonna end well.

Also, I predict a marked increase in the amount of single shoes found on Clarendon Boulevard on Sunday mornings.

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