To: Denali Borough Assembly Members and Denali Borough Citizens
Commuter Safety
This petition is to gather support for an ordinance in the Denali Borough that would close bars at 2 AM in order to separate drunk-driving traffic from morning commuter traffic.
Why is this important?
The few bars that are open late put drunk drivers on the road at the same time as morning commuters. Closing the bars at 2 AM will also keep drunk people off the highway (between the 49th, Totem, and Northstar) at the time of heavier traffic. So drinking and commuting will be safer!
My mother, Gitte Stryhn, an important member of this rural (ca. 1,000 -person) Alaskan community, was recently killed by a drunk driver that was leaving the Totem bar while she was bicycling to work.
Only 1 bar is open until 5 AM. So only 1 bar will be affected by a 3-hour difference in closing time. Three bars are normally open until three or three-thirty, so they will close only an hour or an hour and a half earlier. One bar that stays open late only on very special occasions would only be able to stay open until two.
My mother, Gitte Stryhn, an important member of this rural (ca. 1,000 -person) Alaskan community, was recently killed by a drunk driver that was leaving the Totem bar while she was bicycling to work.
Only 1 bar is open until 5 AM. So only 1 bar will be affected by a 3-hour difference in closing time. Three bars are normally open until three or three-thirty, so they will close only an hour or an hour and a half earlier. One bar that stays open late only on very special occasions would only be able to stay open until two.