Drinking and driving is a seriously dangerous behavior with both legal and safety consequences. If you get behind the wheel after drinking, you put yourself and others at risk. For those who are new to drinking, you might understand why it’s dangerous. However, you may also need more explanations to drive the point home. These are some things to consider before drinking and driving.
Safety
Above all else, drinking and driving is dangerous. Alcohol slows your response time and can cause you to make critical mistakes. This could mean anything from not braking in time to turning incorrectly. This doesn’t just put you at risk, it puts your passengers and other drivers at risk too. When it comes to driving, safety is an absolute must and should not be comprised. You should be in control of yourself at all times and able to respond to any type of happenstance (i.e. Pedestrians, sharp turns, debris, other cars driving around you et cetera) with the quickest of reflexes. If you are impaired in a way that doesn’t allow you to be so responsive, then the results could be deadly. You don’t want to end up spending the rest of your life feeling guilty about causing someone’s death when it could have been completely avoided had you decided not to drive after drinking.
Legal Ramifications
Drinking and driving is a crime. If you’re above the legal limit, you will be charged with at least a misdemeanor. At worst, you could be charged with felony murder. Having a DUI charge can have serious legal consequences. You’ll have to pay for bail, possibly fines, and an attorney like Steve W. Sumner. It will also be on your record, possibly permanently. You have to ask yourself if that’s worth not calling a cab. If you compare the costs, it most certainly is in the long run.
Driving Restrictions
Having a DUI is a mark on your driving record and could lead to your license being suspended or revoked. Depending on the severity of your charges, it could be a very long suspension. Your insurance will also be impacted by your decision to drink and drive. Expect a hike in your rates. It’s only fair. Insurance companies don’t want to insure anyone who is going to be dangerous. Having a record of drinking and driving will definitely raise those concerns. Having restrictions on your driving could have an impact on other aspects of your life. You won’t be able to drive your kids to their extracurricular activities. You won’t be able to go to work without taking public transport—which, depending on the quality of your local bus or train system, could actually cost you your job.
Losing Everything
There shouldn’t be one reason for you to not drink or drive. There are so many reasons not to drink and drive. There might be reasons that are more important than others (such as the death risk), but there’s no good reason. If you’re thinking about drinking and driving, consider the risk. You have a lot to lose and very little to gain. The amount of money to call for a cab is going to be nothing compared to legal fees.
So many lives are lost from drinking and driving. You have a choice every time to drink to drive or not. When considering how much can go wrong with drinking and driving, you should definitely not.
