Second Winnipeg Party Bus Crackdown In 2009
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Please Note: The Company Pictured Above Is A Popular Winnipeg Party Bus Company. We Are Not Sure If They Are The Company Targeted In Last Night’s Incidents.
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Party Bus: A party bus (also known as a Party Ride, limo bus, limousine bus, party van, or luxury bus) is a large motor vehicle designed to carry 10 or more people. Party buses are usually driven by chauffeurs.
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Two months ago, a massive, one night bust on a number of city “Party Buses” occurred and made nearly every Winnipeg headline. Numerous local transportation businesses were fined for alcohol related offenses including open alcohol as well as not being up to industry safety standards including breaks, poor tires and seat positioning. They were also given a firm warning by authorities to clean up their act or face future crackdowns. You can view the original Winnipeg Sun article HERE.
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On Sunday, September 7 2009, authorities kept there promise and busted 2 more party buses and 1 limousine with similar offenses. Again the fines were steep and questions were raised about the fairness in punishment and whether Party Buses are a gift or curse to the Winnipeg Nightlife And Winnipeg Party Scene. You can read more about the latest busts on Access Winnipeg HERE.
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With the recent Party Bus and Limousine busts all over the news, I thought it would be interesting to give my take on the issue as well as see what other Winnipeg Nightlife readers thought about it. First of all I think it is completely inappropriate for the buses to be operating in poor mechanical condition. Faulty breaks, tires and the like can really be quite dangerous and the whole point of a party bus is to provide safe, alternative transportation. This seems like either negligence, frugality or ignorance on behalf of the business owners. Other issues such as seat positioning and lighting should be looked at on a one off basis. If a bus wishes to alter it’s manufactured layout, they should have to receive approval to do so. Seats can be placed sideways if done properly (look at Winnipeg Transit buses for example) and interior lighting can also be used safely (such as limousines) as long as they are not obstructive and the windows are properly tinted.
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When it comes to the alcohol issue, my point of view is in favor of the Party Bus companies and not the police. Party Buses provide transportation to a large number of intoxicated guests at the hands of a capable and sober driver. The buses that I have been on personally also ID guests before they enter the bus which provides another level of protection against underage drinking. Instead of condemning these businesses, the authorities and government should be endorsing them and providing guidance on how they can further improve their service. I believe a solution that pleases all parties could be reached with a little bit of work. At the end of the day, neither the police, customers or business want people drinking and driving.
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Bottom line is that I think authorities need to acknowledge that these “Party Buses” are here and need to come up with a rock solid and fair set of rules to govern them (much like what is in place for Limousines and Taxi’s). This is will far better protect not only the patrons and customers of these companies, but also the companies themselves from liabilities and heavy fines as a result to some of the fogginess in the rules that exists now.
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Do you agree, disagree or have an opinion on this topic? Please leave a comment below (No Sign Up Is Required) or join our Forum and discuss this issue with readers just like you!
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i am definitely in favor of the party bus companies. they are preventing a large number of very drunk people from driving. based on what the police are doing, it would appear to me that they(cops) would prefer to have all these drunks driving their own vehicles then allowing them to hitch a safe ride. sometimes the police are just sooo stupid….
i also am in favor of the party bus companies. they provide a safe way for you and all your friends to get to and from the bar. the cops clearly are not going down the right path at this point. hopefully they’ll realize this is a blessing, not a curse and they can find a way for this to be beneficial to all.
Preventing numerous people from drinking and driving and providing help if a situation were to arise and yet they are targeted by the police? would the police rather respond to an accident caused by a drunk driver and witness a death, etc. - when it could have been prevented? does not make sense to me.
“Instead of condemning these businesses, the authorities and government should be endorsing them and providing guidance on how they can further improve their service. I believe a solution that pleases all parties could be reached with a little bit of work. At the end of the day, neither the police, customers or business want people drinking and driving”
These two sentences sum up the nuts of the issue to me. Government provides guidance, businesses transport people, customers play by the rules, and it’s all good. For the government to endorse these buses would be like saying, “We, the Government, want you to party every night of every day!” The government already puts out bilboards and ad campains depicting the dangers of drunk driving, so this must have been an easy call to make; although I think the bus service should continue; to expand; to become a sector of the public transportation. That, in fact, would need to happen if it were to work in cooperation with the government, … now who has ever heard of any place in the world with a special sector of the transportation department of the government, designed only for late night transportation of highly intoxicated people. That, my friends, is what’s called functional public transit. Winnipeg has dysfunctional transit system, and that, I believe, is the larger issue at hand. If the city transit system were able to run an hour or two past it’s current shut down time of 1:38 am, you would see less drunk drivers, yes, but the way the bus routes are set up, there is no way Winnipeg Transit could keep going. It hardly gets ridership that late at night anyway, especially in Winter time, Hell no! Get me a cab, right?! I think the Winnipeg Transit authority, the group already in cooperation with the government, therefore (in theory) also in cooperation with the majority of the voting population, this group should, could step up the barely operating transportation system by providing more service with the DART buses, deferred routes, feeder routes, improving transit priority signals and diamond bus lanes which also increase cyclist lanes, decreasing the number of cars on the roads; cars being the number one killer with drunk people, speeding, behind the wheel. Cars are the killing machine. Motorbikes, on the other hand, are just plain stupid. Way too fast. Deadly. ATVs, same story. Snowmobiles, who needs them? When did dog sleds become obsolete? When’s the last time you pet your snowmobile? Dirt bikes… I’ll play with micromachines. Or get a BMX. At least get some exercise if you’re going to be stupid.