State officials hope that a new law in effect Friday, requiring all servers and bartenders to receive specialized alcohol training within 90 days of being hired, could help with the ambiguity.

Senate Enrolled Act 382 -- authored by Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette -- will impact about 10,000 retail establishments and 100,000 employees in the state, according to Alting. All must be certified under the training regimen by January 2008.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, such programs can reduce nighttime drunken driving crashes by 17 percent and save crash costs per licensed driver by $200.

Alcohol-related crashes cost Indiana citizens $2.4 billion in 1998.

The training sessions will school servers on Indiana's alcohol laws, the effects of alcohol on human behavior, recognizing fake identification and other alcohol-related issues.

"Personally, I think it's a really great idea. As of right now, if you're 21, all you have to do is send in a paper to get your license," New, 22, said. "The only training you get is a "yes/no" question. Then you file it away and you forget about it."

Supporters also say the legislation, dubbed Responsible Alcohol Server Training, can save lives. It hits a personal note for Dan Towery, a founder and volunteer for the West Central Indiana Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

His daughter, Sarah, 24, and her boyfriend, Chip Smith, 20, were killed on March 21, 1999, when a drunken driver crossed the center line on County Road 350 South, causing a head-on crash that killed all three involved.

"We're not looking for this to be any type of silver bullet, but it's one of the pieces that is needed," said Towery, of West Lafayette. "These people are selling mind-altering drugs that when consumed in large quantities can lead all the way to alcohol poisoning, to not being able to control a vehicle."

Lafayette police Chief Don Roush favors the legislation and called it a "community policing concept" that allows the average citizen to help keep drunken drivers off the roadways.

"In the end, it can possibly save lives," he said.

The driver of the crash that killed Towery's daughter, 39-year-old Jeffrey P. Trout, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.27 percent at the time of his death. The bartender who served 10 drinks in 2 1/2 hours to Trout was later convicted of criminal recklessness and sentenced to 180 days in jail.

In Indiana, it is a criminal offense to sell or furnish alcoholic beverages to an intoxicated person.

"The responsibility is still with the person who is consuming -- but the person doing the serving has to have some responsibility also," Towery said. "I do blame the bartender who basically overserved Jeff Trout."

The NHTSA reports that, nationwide, 40 percent to 60 percent of intoxicated patrons drive after consuming alcohol in bars, clubs or restaurants. In 2002, 269 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes, data show.

"A program such as this one has been established in over 20 other states," Alting said in a statement. "These programs have proven to decrease sales to intoxicated people."

Training procedures and recertification processes will be established by the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.

Under the new law, a license must be renewed every two years and before receiving it, a server or bartender must pass a test. Currently, anyone 19 or 20 years old who wants to serve alcohol or anyone supervising a 19- or 20-year-old server must receive a similar license and training.

"It's good also for the business and the person who's serving," New said. "If a person I serve gets in accident -- or worse, kills someone -- drunk driving, legally I can get in trouble."

Erika Hurd, 25, has worked as a bartender and server at various Lafayette-area restaurants, including the 8 West martini bar, Sarge Oak restaurant and Chilis Bar and Grill.

Though she says she understands the legislation's merit, she questions it's effectiveness -- especially in a college town.

"Server turnaround is typically so high that once a business pays for a server to go through training, it's almost not worth it," Hurd said. "In the long run, they're going to lose money."