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How To Get Home Safely After Drinking
Each year, thousands of car accidents involving drunk drivers are recorded.
In 2007 alone, about 13,000 careless deaths from fatal car accidents involving drunk drivers were recorded.
This makes drunk driving one of the top causes of automobile accidents.
Alcohol and other drugs slow your reflexes, reduce coordination and increase risk-taking behaviour, etc. Each of these makes a car-crash more likely.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights account for more than one-third of fatal drink driving car accidents. And they usually happen between the hours of 9 pm and 3 am.
Within that social period, chances of an alcohol-related auto crash are much higher than any other time of the week.
After a drinking spree, or an indulgence in recreational drugs, how does one prevent an auto-mishap?
Autojosh.com highlights some strategies that one can apply in order to arrive home safe and avoid alcohol-related car accidents.
1. Leave your car at home
Take a mode of public transport to the venue of the happy hour. Leaving your car behind is a guarantee that you will not be in a car crash. Well, that is except you did not opt for an equally inebriated driver to take you home.
2. Walk home
If your home is within a walkable distance, then walk home. One benefit of this is that, walking tends to help wear out the alcohol in your system. However, be wary of some risk that comes with a drunk pedestrian.
Walking home with a friend or two is also a great idea. Besides, it is a way to get some exercise and possibly sober up a little to reduce the next day headache.
3. Plan ahead
Before heading out for a drinking session, make plans ahead, on how you intend to come back home. Think of safe alternatives to you driving home. Then opt for any of them.
4. Get A Ride-Share App (Uber, Taxify, Oga Taxi, etc)
Use a ride-share app to request a ride to the venue and back. Apart from the convenience, this is a safer option for driving home yourself. Requesting for a ride on any of these platforms minimizes the risk of being taken advantage of, cheated on the fare, or even getting robbed by the driver.
5. Go with a sober driver
If you are sure that you will be too drunk to drive home, then take along a sober driver that will drive you back home.
6. Get a lift with someone who has not been drinking or using drugs
Ask for a lift from someone at the venue who did not participate in the drinking or indulgence in recreational drugs.
7. Avoid crossing major expressways
Never cross a major expressway, especially the ones that are unsafe or illegal to do so. If there is a pedestrian bridge around you, use it. Take extra caution on roads with a speed limit higher than 30 mph.
8. Leave Your car behind at the bar or drinking venue
If it an unplanned visit to a bar, lounge or other drinking places, especially one that you are very familiar with, you can leave your car there, if you feel too tipsy to drive.
9. Wear a Reflective or bright-coloured clothe
If you intend to walk back home, wear a bright-coloured cloth or keep a reflective gear in your bag just in case. This is to minimize getting knocked down by a car that wasn’t able to pick you out on time in the dark.
10. Stay at a friend’s house
If you are feeling to inebriated to drive home, then stay over at a friend’s house that is not too far from the venue of the rendezvous.
