Changes in the rules for “open containers” of alcoholic beverages in a carare afoot at the Iowa Statehouse. It’s now illegal for a driver to have a beer or a glass of hooch WITHINtheir reach in a vehicle traveling on Iowa roads. The federal government isthreatening to withhold over 13-and-a-half million dollars worth ofroad-building money over the next three years if Iowa lawmakers fail totoughen the “open container” law. A bill which cleared the Senate Tuesdayestablishes a 50-dollar penalty for having an open container of alcoholanywhere in the passenger compartment. Senator Andy Mc-Kean, a republicanfrom Anamosa, says it is a modest bill that will make highways safer andCritics, like Senator Matt Mc-Coy of Des Moines, said the bill goes too far,especially for “road-trippers” who may be going to a ballgame with adesignated driver. He says the driver could still be cited even though hewasn’t driking. Mc-Coy says pretty soon, there won’t be enough places to putall the lawbreakers.
