Among the several new ordinances regarding liquor licenses and bar hours approved last Tuesday, one of them is a trial run that has lengthened bar hours by an hour. Our news staff confirms we agree with and support this new ordinance. We have examined both the benefits and setbacks that can and will accompany these extended hours.

The trial will allow bars to open until 2 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Bars will revert back to their regular operation hours on Aug. 1.

Mayor Larry Rennels and the Charleston City Council decided there were two main reasons for the extension. .

One reason is to reduce traffic in the parking lots after bars have started to close. Our news staff could only hope that during this trial period we can observe gradual changes occur.

However, we also considered that more students would feel compelled to show up to bars once they become aware that they will have an entire extra hour. While in the past, students felt discouraged from showing up to bars later in the evening, perhaps the numbers will increase. This means more congestion of bodies and cars as well.

Another reason bar hours have extended is because the Mayor and City Council hope to encourage people to stay in Charleston rather than heading out into other towns. We are well aware that after long hours of drinking, the roads can become a dangerous place to be at—especially late at night or in the small hours of the morning.

With the extension of hours, the council expects students approach their new extended hours privilege by taking advantage of it, and rather than traveling back and forth, students would feel more comfortable staying in town.

Without the excess of cars swiveling from town to town on nights of heavy drinking, others on the road will be less threatened by accidents and drunk drivers.

The last reason mentioned for the bar hour extensions is to possibly see an impact on reducing after-hour house parties.

Ideally, this would be effective if college students were a population to grow exhausted by 2 a.m. Yet, realistically, 2 a.m. appears to be the peak of party hours during the weekend.

Although our staff would like to remain confident in witnessing changes, there is another important complication that may have been overlooked: there are house parties that do not begin until 2 a.m. and even later.

Therefore, it is crucial to consider whether or not disturbances throughout the neighborhoods increase or decrease. Despite the arguments that remain in question, our staff fully supports the extended hours and hope to hear that the council’s proactive solutions were successful.

The daily editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Daily Eastern News.