and a commemorative glass for the average price of four dollars. Each individual sample is approximately one and one half ounces, totaling seven and one half ounces of consumed alcohol per tasting. John Dolour, proprietor of Vintage Vineyards Winery, told me that, “The typical tourist visits three wineries during their day visit to this valley.” The National Center for Statistics and Analysis’s “Drink Chart Guide” shows that as little as eight ounces of wine over a two-hour period can raise the blood alcohol level to 0.07%, which significantly impairs driving capabilities. Tripling this amount, as many visitors do, guarantees that a 230-pound person would exceed the legal blood alcohol level of 0.08% (31). These results clearly indicate that a day of wine “tasting” is no different then a night of bar hopping, and therefore necessitates a designated driver. The five-mile stretch of Rancho California Road that connects fifteen commercial wineries is in great need of improvement. Within the city limits, this road is well lit, has a median, multiple center turnout lanes, and stoplights at every intersection. In addition to these safety measures, it is heavily patrolled by city law enforcement. Yet, once you cross the city limits, just prior to the first winery, Rancho California Road becomes a two-lane nightmare. In this mostly agricultural environment, where there are few residential lights, there are no streetlights. High beams are necessary for proper nighttime illumination on this blackened thoroughfare, but because of the curves that define this route one is never able to see clearly down the road. Often, this leads to drivers taking a turn, only to be caught in the high beams of an approaching vehicle. Just last year, my girlfriend and I narrowly escaped a head on collision when a driver came barreling around a curve and directly into our lane. Reflective center-lane road dots could...
