Drunk Driving:
Do yourself a big favor. Do us an even bigger favor. Follow these steps when you go into a bar or drink at a friend’s house.
· Drink as much as you want. And then call a cab or a friend for a ride home. You should never go out drinking unless you have enough Cab money in your purse or wallet for a ride home. If you don’t set that money aside you’ll be tempted to drive. My dad used to always tell me to put a $100.00 bill under my license in my wallet for emergencies. I do it to this day. You can modify that practice to avoid a D.U.I. arrest. Put a $20.00 bill under your license and keep it there for emergency cab fare. That 5 or 10 dollar cab fare WILL save you thousands of dollars. I’m not going to beg you to believe me. If you’re smart, you’ll put a 20.00 bill in there right now. If not, and you should decide to take a chance on driving, YOU WILL GET STOPPED AND ARRESTED. It’s just a matter of time.
(Just so you know, drinking coffee before you drive is nothing more than a myth. It does nothing to sober you up. You don’t see me sticking my neck out by saying it’s OK to have only one drink and then drive.) That’s because everyone’s metabolism is different. Amount of sleep, food intake, medications, medical history, and tolerance to alcohol, all play a part in how much one can safely drink in a time frame. The truth is, in an era where there is zero tolerance to drunk driving, it does not take much alcohol at all, to get up to California’s limit of .08. Zero tolerance means zero options if you never want to get arrested for D.U.I. The only safe option is to not drink and drive. Period!
Here are some safe options to LIVE BY: (Nothing that you haven’t already heard.)
· Use a designated driver! (One that totally refrains from drinking. It’s embarrassing when the designated driver gets arrested and blows a .10 on the machine!) I knew a group of guys that had just gotten out of college that loved to live it up on the weekends. 5 of them. They rotated designated driving responsibilities EVERY friday night when they went out. They always had a blast, and they often offered rides to others that were intoxicated and planning to drive. They were ALWAYS RESPONSIBLE and I respect that.
· Drink non-alcoholic beverages. You can still go to a bar, socialize, throw darts, dance, meet people, and have fun. If you’re driving home afterwards, you’d best heed this advice or your fun is going to be very short lived. There is nothing wrong with drinking non-alcoholic beer, 7-up, ginger ale, juice, ice water, or whatever.
· I see numerous people walking home at 2:00am from our downtown area, and I worry about them being able to walk in a straight line but, I’d rather see that, over them getting behind the wheel of a car!
If I don’t have anything going on I try to reward these people with a quick ride home. If you have no other alternative and you live reasonably close by, then WALK instead of Drive!
· I’LL often cruise through the parking lot of some of the bars after they close and I’ll see a car or 2 with the windows fogged up. Sometimes with the engine running for heating purposes. The driver is sound asleep inside. The intent is good but is it a recommendation. No.
All to often the sleeping intoxicated driver will wake up in discomfort and decide to drive home. Still Intoxicated! Plus you never know who is going to be knocking on your car window at 3am. What if it was someone other than a cop checking on your welfare? What if it was someone who saw you as being an easy target? Sleeping it off in your car? We don’t recommend it.
One of my favorite sayings is that “Every Action causes a Reaction.†This holds true for everything in life. In regards to drunk driving your actions decide on how your night will go.
Use discretion, common sense, and follow some of the simple suggestions listed above and you’ll never, I repeat never have any problems getting home in one piece. (Unless a drunk driver runs into you.)
Disregard the law, use poor judgment, utilize poor common sense, and present a hazard to innocent motorist and pedestrians? The answer comes in the form of a very accurate bumper sticker.
“You Drink and Drive – We’ll provide the CHASER!â€
What can you do to prevent being victimized by the drunk driver? You can help yourself by helping us in getting drunk drivers off the road.
· Don’t let your friends or relatives drive drunk. Take the keys, drive them home, call them a cab, or as a last resort call us. You’re not snitching your friend off, and we’re not looking to make an arrest unless your friend makes it onto a roadway.
