Impaired? Here are 5 Ways to Get Home Safe!
January 8, 2016 at 12:01 am
Driving a car while under the influence of alcohol is never a good idea. According to the DUI Foundation, “Roughly 33% of Americans are involved in an alcohol-related crash at some point in their lives – that’s about 30 people a day!”
You’re not only risking your own life when you drive impaired, you are also endangering the lives of the people in your car, as well as everyone else sharing the road with you. Besides that, a DUI is no cheap mistake! You can expect to pay somewhere between $5,000 and $12,000 – if it’s your first offense, no one was injured, and no damage was done.
There is ALWAYS a way around driving while impaired. Plan how you will get home BEFORE you go out!
Designate a sober driver
Chose someone in your group to be the designated driver. This person is responsible for staying sober – meaning they will not drink alcohol or take drugs. If your designated driver does not follow through with their responsibilities, there are many other ways to get home safe without injury to yourself or others.
Dial #
TAXI (8294)
Many people don’t know this, but for a buck or two (depending on your carrier), you can dial #TAXI. This will immediately connect you to the nearest cab company with the first available taxi. This service is available to you anywhere and at anytime. Don’t believe us? Check out #TAXI FAQs
Know where home is
Write down the address of where you’re staying and carry it with you – in a safe spot. If you’re from New York City and you’re visiting cousins in rural Nebraska, you most likely won’t remember what address to tell the cab driver. You can put the address in your phone as a backup, but don’t solely rely on this in case you lose your phone or the battery dies.
Take a rideshare
Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar are three popular rideshare companies that are waiting to give you a ride home. Whichever one you chose, remember to download the app and put all your information in before going out. Typing credit card and driver’s license information into your phone right before you’re ready to go home is not what you want to do. When it’s set up before hand, you’re only a few clicks away from having a safe ride home with no cash needed – even the tip is included!
I drove my car out and absolutely need to get it home, but I’m impaired – what do I do?
If you need to get your car home tonight, taking a taxi and calling a friend are not options and finding a sober driver to take you and your car home last minute is no easy task. That’s why they have the National Directory of Designated Driver Services – a website that will find you designated driving companies all over the World. Simply put, two people show up in a car, one of them drives your car home with you, and the other driver follows behind. Check out BeMyDD – a designated driver service that covers us here in Orange County.
Remember – make a plan (and a back-up plan!) before you go out!
