You likely understand that drinking and driving is bad, but resisting that urge can be difficult after a night full of fun!
Despite this, you must prioritize your safety and commit to never drinking and driving. Once you make this promise to yourself, you can begin figuring out how to avoid this dangerous situation.
Did you know that there are now drug and alcohol permit test questions? Drinking and driving is so problematic that new drivers are required to understand and answer key questions about it.
If you aren’t prepared to answer these questions, then you may not have all the tools you need to refrain from drinking and driving. To make this easier for you, we’ll give you five great tips for preventing this deadly sin below!
Pace Yourself
One of the most important tips you can keep in mind is to pace yourself while drinking.
This is incredibly important because the rate at which you drink alcohol affects how intoxicated you get. To understand this, imagine two people that start drinking at the same time.
Over an hour, one person has four shots and stops drinking while the other person has four shots over four hours. Who do you think reached a higher level of intoxication?
It’s the person who had four shots in a single hour. While both people consumed the same amount of alcohol, spreading it out gives time to process the alcohol and limit how intoxicated you get.
Drinking multiple drinks in a short period is also known as binge-drinking. It’s much more likely that you get drunk from binge-drinking than casual drinking because it involves quicker alcohol consumption.
The slower you drink, the less affected you are. When you’re less affected by alcohol, your blood alcohol content (BAC) is kept lower at all times. This means that you’ll have less time to wait before reaching a BAC of 0.00, which is the only safe level to drive at.
Listen to Your Body
Another great suggestion is to listen to your body.
What this means is that you should pay attention and notice if you’re beginning to be affected by alcohol. If you notice any signs of drunkenness like slurred speech or impaired movement, then you should take it as a sign that you’re under the influence.
Furthermore, you should make a point of never trying to drive if you show any signs of intoxication. Even if you think that you’re capable, your judgment is clouded and this means that you aren’t a good judge of your abilities.
While you should never drive with signs of being drunk, you should also stop drinking when you notice them. If you need to be home at a certain time, then you should stop several hours before needing to leave.
Another aspect of this is ensuring that you don’t drink on an empty stomach or without being hydrated. This will cause the alcohol to affect you quicker, which will cause your BAC to drastically increase.
Your goal is to prevent your BAC from ever hitting the legal limit, which means that understanding your body is crucial for evaluating if you’re approaching it.
Arrange a Ride
You should also make arrangements for a ride before you leave your house.
There are several ways that you can do this. Whether you assign a designated driver, commit to calling a taxi or rideshare, or ask a friend to pick you up, just have someone ready to give you a ride.
When you make a plan for a ride, it means that you won’t need to bring your car with you. This entirely avoids the temptation of drinking and driving because you don’t even have the option to do it.
Having plans for someone else to drive is one of the best options you have because it can be hard to refrain from drinking and driving when you’re already intoxicated. You don’t make the best decisions when drunk and this can lead to thinking that you can drive when you shouldn’t.
Arranging a ride beforehand ensures your safety, so it’s well worth the small price that you pay for it!
Spend the Night
If making plans for a ride isn’t an option, then you should try and see if you can spend the night.
While this option isn’t always practical, it can still be useful in the right circumstances. Being drunk at the bar means that spending the night isn’t available, but you can do this if you’re having fun at a friend’s house.
Even better, you can hand your keys to the host right when you arrive. This will eliminate any desire to drink and drive because you won’t be able to get into your car.
Sometimes the temptation to drive is difficult to resist, so anything that removes this ability is a great choice. Doing this by spending the night at a friend’s house will give you plenty of time to sober up and wait until driving is safe.
Remember the Risks
As a final tip, you should fully understand and appreciate the risks of drinking and driving.
This may be a hard thing to remember while already intoxicated, but at least knowing it while sober can place it into your subconscious and help prevent you from making a poor choice.
If you don’t understand the consequences of your actions, then you may not fully appreciate why you shouldn’t do something. This is particularly relevant for drinking and driving, especially if you’ve successfully done it before without being punished.
Drinking while driving typically has two consequences. This includes causing an accident and being caught by law enforcement.
Causing an accident can cause trauma and ruin both your and another driver’s life. This will also involve the police, which means a DUI. Getting a DUI leads to a fine, license suspension, and potential jail time. So, in that matter, you’ll want to seek out for qualified defense lawyers for DUI.
Both situations are devastating and there’s no good reason to allow them to happen. Drinking and driving is never worth it, so firmly understanding that will help you avoid doing it!
Closing Thoughts
Driving while intoxicated is incredibly dangerous and will likely result in an accident or being pulled over. It will inevitably cause problems for you if you are caught, which is a great possibility.
Because of this, you should commit to never drinking and driving. If this is difficult for you, there are a few great ways to help prevent this from happening.
This includes pacing yourself while drinking, listening to your body, pre-arranging a ride, spending the night, and appreciating the consequences of drinking and driving.
When you take action to avoid driving drunk, you’ll be ensuring the safety of yourself and anyone else on the road. You can never drive while under the influence and there simply is no good reason to do it!