When a drunk driver gets behind the wheel of a car, there can be considerable life-changing circumstances. The decision to drive under the influence of an intoxicating substance can have major implications – physical, emotional and financial – in a person’s life. However, there are many ways in which “buzzed” or drunk drivers can prevent their imminent driver impairment.
Pre-emptive Strike
One of the best ways to prevent yourself from getting behind the wheel is to give a friend or a family member, who you know will not be drinking, your keys at the beginning of the night. Even if you are tempted to drive once the night is over, you will not be able to because you don’t have your keys. Preventing driver impairment in this way allows you to have a good time while not having to worry about how, or even if, you will safely return home at the end of the evening.
Public Transportation
Another way to keep yourself from being tempted to drive impaired is to have a taxi take you to the locations where you wish to go. If you are going out with friends, and it becomes apparent that all of you will be indulging in some kind of liquid libation, offer to call up a cab company and have them come to pick you up. Arrange for the cab to meet you at your destination later on that evening to ensure a safe journey back home. While it might be a little more expensive in the long run to hire a cab, it will most definitely be the safer means of getting to and from wherever it is you are going.
Approaching the Impaired
If you are a concerned friend or relative of someone who has driven impaired in the past, there are ways to subtly go about making sure that they are not taking part in any kind of driving-related activity. Try to be cordial and friendly when asking to have someone’s keys. The initial reaction from the impaired person will probably be one of denial that they have had too much followed by a feeling of self-guilt that they let themselves get inebriated past the point of being able to drive. It is important for you, as the requesting friend, to stay calm in the situation, even if tempers begin to flare.
Keep It Quiet
The main reason why people don’t readily hand over their keys is because they are embarrassed to do so. Normally, drinking takes place in social environments. As people aren’t generally too keen on being demeaned in front of friends, they take your caring for their safety as an attempt to put yourself over at their expense. Understanding the feelings that the person is feeling at the time you are asking for their keys will go a long way toward helping ultimately stop driver impairment.
Impairment Fatalities
Deaths relating to driver impairment have recently begun to rise to all-time highs in the Unites States. It is a problem that needs to be dealt with immediately if we ever hope of fully remedying the situation. According to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving crashes involving a driver with an illegal blood alcohol content in 2008. These deaths comprised 31.6 percent of the 37,261 total traffic fatalities in 2008.