On May 22, Minnesota State Representative Larry Kraft’s bipartisan bill, HF2130, was signed into law. The bill aims to reform Minnesota’s DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) laws, such as the usage of interlocking systems and lookback policies, in response to a fatal crash at Park Tavern on Sept. 1, 2024, that was caused by drunk driving.
Park Tavern owner Philip Weber said the tragedy at Park Tavern left a measurable impact on the tavern’s community.
“There was a pretty profound impact on the employees on one level (and) a very profound impact on the customer base (on another) because they take a lot of personal pride in the Park Tavern, because so many have been brought up generationally at the Park Tavern, and they take it personally when something like that happens to us,” Weber said. “I heard that from countless customers. They felt our grieving. They felt their own pain in it. It was a horrible tragedy in the first place, and nobody was immune to seeing how devastating it was to everybody.”
According to Kraft, the tragedy at Park Tavern inspired him to look into Minnesota law surrounding the administration and regulation of interlock systems. He said HF2130 is intended to adjust the time repeat offenders must use an interlock system to match the exponential trend of repeated DWI offenses.
“(HF2130) is focused on repeat offenders, and it comes out of the tragedy that happened last September at Park Tavern. I looked at our state DWI laws because I was just astounded that this guy that killed these people and injured 12 (when he) had five prior convictions and turns out he had a sixth when he was a teenager in Wisconsin — he was driving without any interlock,” Kraft said. “What I learned when I look at our state DWI laws is that most people don’t commit a second offense if they commit a first, but if you commit a second offense, the likelihood of committing more goes up a lot. And yet, our policies of ignition interlock, which is a breathalyzer for your car, went up linearly. So on the second offense, you could be required to be on it for one or two years. The third offense, three years, fourth offense, four years, that kind of thing. But that doesn’t match the behavioral data that says (repeat offenses) go up quite a bit. What I wanted to do with the legislation is match that (trend), so that a second offense now is two years. A third offense is six years, a fourth and then the other offense is 10 years.”
Park Tavern Event Coordinator and Manager Cheryl Gallagher Watson said she’s grateful for HF2130’s revision of the prior legislative procedures in place regarding interlock systems. She said though the bill originated from tragedy, she is glad to see productive measures being taken in response.
“(The bill is) terrific. I’m glad that he saw a need for it and he pursued it. It’s tragic that it happened the way it happened — that it took people dying for a bill to be passed. But if you have to find some silver lining, that’s what it is,” Gallagher Watson said. “In this instance, the person who ran onto our patio last September was a career alcoholic. This was his sixth DWI (and there was) no reason he should have been behind the wheel. Larry’s bill hopefully will deter people from having those opportunities, or those chances to get behind the wheel. If Kraft’s Bill was in place, he wouldn’t have had that opportunity to get behind the wheel. I’m glad that he spoke up and did something.”
According to Physical Education and Health teacher Kayla Ross, drinking poses a multitude of physical and mental risks. She said these risks can be exacerbated when developing teenagers consume alcohol.
“With drinking in general, there’s a lot of physical effects, including effects to your liver, there’s cancers that are caused by drinking, (it’s) not great for your heart. There are plenty of physical effects. (For) mental effects, there’s an association between (drinking and an) increase in anxiety, depression and mental health issues just because alcohol is a depressant — that’s the category it would fall under — and we know that it has a correlation with mental health,” Ross said. “For teens, especially, their brains are still developing. (Alcohol is) known to have a connection to brain development, affecting attention span and (the) ability to learn new things. With growing teens, both physical and mental effects are in effect.”
Gallagher Watson said she hopes HF2130 is able to bring more awareness to the risks of drunk driving. She said she is hopeful that the bill will increase the accountability of both offenders and the state of Minnesota in ensuring repeated offenses are avoided.
“I hope that it’ll bring more awareness around DWIs and drunk driving in general. To launch the bill, (Kraft) held a press release at Park Tavern a few months ago and got a lot of good press for it, and as of last Thursday (May 22, 2025), it did get signed into effect, which is terrific,” Gallagher Watson said. “The bill in general is a great option, considering the current laws that we have in Minnesota around DWIs. I personally feel that they’re a little lax (relaxed), and this (bill) gives more accountability (for) both the individual that has the DWI (and) also the state’s responsibility of making sure they’re not giving driver’s licenses to people who really shouldn’t have one, are not in a position or need more time or sobriety.”
According to Kraft, he hopes that HF2130 is able to prevent tragedies like the crash at Park Tavern. He said he aims to ensure interlock systems are able to remain effective while also promoting repeat offenders to strive for sobriety.
”I started looking into this within a few days after the tragedy because I was just flabbergasted that this guy had five prior convictions in Minnesota. So, what I hope is that (HF2130) will save lives, (that) it will prevent these kinds of things. If you look at this individual, he had five prior convictions, and his last one was in 2015. If this law had been in place, he would have been on ignition interlock and would not have been able to get in his car that night when he killed people in St. Louis Park,” Kraft said. “But even in advance of that, he would have had more time on interlock before in his second, third and fourth offenses. Hopefully, that would have changed behaviors. Ignition interlocks are really effective. The CDC has said they are very effective at preventing driving while intoxicated. It requires you to breathe into (it) anytime you want to drive a car, and it winds up being a behavioral influence so you’re constantly being reminded ‘I need to stay sober.’ It can help address people that are trying to get sober too.”
According to Ross, one of the main ways to prevent drunk driving is to prioritize educating people on the risks and dangers early on.
“(The) biggest thing, is further education. Not just in health class, but in general, I encourage kids to do more research and learn from other people’s experiences — hearing other people’s stories, or watching,” Ross said. “I share documentaries of people’s stories and experiences with drug and alcohol use, but the more you’re educated on any topic, the more you can make an informed decision for yourself.”
Gallagher Watson said that beyond legislation, community members can help curb drunk driving by normalizing alternative methods of transportation.
“The community as a whole could remind (others) to take advantage of all the other avenues of transportation, be it Uber, Lyft, taxis are still around, bike riding, walking. A lot of people live very near here and it’s within walking distance — that’s a safer route,” Gallagher Watson said. “At Park Tavern, we don’t have any issue and we encourage people leaving their cars here if they’re not feeling up to driving — we don’t tow. I hope that they’ll see what happened here as a big reminder that there are other options if you’re too intoxicated.”
On May 7, Stephen Bailey pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to his crash. Kraft said the impact of DWIs is not only devastating, but permanent. He said he hopes HF2130 can raise awareness for teenagers regarding the everlasting consequences of getting behind the wheel intoxicated.
“One of the things that really struck me when this guy, Stephen Bailey, pleaded guilty a week or two ago, you could see him walking out. There’s a picture in the Star Tribune of him, and you could see his face,” Kraft said. “He’s going to be in jail for pretty much the rest of his life. And not only that — he killed two people and devastated the lives of so many people. So it’s such a devastating decision. I hope this can get people and young folks to think twice about (drinking and driving), and for friends to think to say, ‘Hey, no, don’t do it. I’ll give you a ride’ or ‘Let’s walk.’”
To learn more about the risks of driving while intoxicated, visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.
