Buzzed Driving is Still Drunk Driving – Drive Sober or It Could Cost You Your Life
With the holidays in full swing, there are many social events that will involve alcohol. If you plan on celebrating with alcohol over the holiday season, please plan on driving sober. Buzzed driving is still considered drunk driving.
Many times, people do not plan ahead when it comes to drinking. They often try to come up with a ride after they have already been drinking. This can be very dangerous and can often prevent you from making a clear decision. People often try to calculate their own BAC based on how many drinks they’ve had or the length of time in between drinks. How you handle alcohol can vary from day to day and has many other contributing factors such as how much food you’ve consumed, body weight, alcohol content and more. The only safe way to drive is completely sober.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated that during the 2013 holiday period which was from December 18-31, there were 1,180 people killed and 30% of those fatalities were crashes involving drunk drivers. In the entire month of December 2013, 733 people lost their lives due to crashes involving drunk drivers. Although drunk driving is something that affects our nation year-round, its devastation is found predominantly around the holiday season.
During the holiday period this year, law enforcement will be actively looking for drunk drivers, so be sure to plan ahead and have a friend or taxi drive you home. If you are convicted of a DUI, you could be face jail time, higher insurance rates, loss of your driver’s license and many other consequences. According to NHTSA, the average DUI costs the offender about $10,000. In turn, you could pay far less for a taxi to take you home. NHTSA’s SaferRide mobile app allows users to call a taxi or a friend as well as tags their exact location, so the driver can find them.
Protect yourself and others by only driving sober. If you or someone you know has been injured due to a drunk driver, contact our law offices today for a free consultation.