Five Excellent Reasons NOT to Drink and Drive
If you're like most Americans, you were lectured about the dangers of driving while intoxicated from the time we first set foot into a driver's education classroom – long before you were ever behind the wheel of a car. You are also reminded of this prohibition over every major holiday – especially St. Patrick's Day, Labor Day, and New Year's Eve - when DUI checkpoints suddenly become more visible and more numerous. You see ads on television reminding you to give your keys to a designated driver, or hire a cab, and if you're very lucky, on the rare occasions when you do over-indulge, you manage to drive home without incident.
What about the times when you are not so lucky? What about the times when you almost crash, almost miss a turn, almost end up driving through the back wall of the garage instead of stopping. These "almosts" may serve as wake-up calls about the real dangers of drinking and driving, but rather than rely on those few, admittedly frightening, incidents, here's a refresher on just why drinking and driving is so bad.
- It's a Crime: Driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence is a crime in every state, and in most cases the legal blood alcohol content you can have is .08%, if you're over twenty-one years old. If you're under twenty-one, that limit is zero.
- There are Legal Consequences: In addition to the risk of life and limb, there are legal consequences. Depending where you live, your age, and whether or not you've had DUIs before, those consequences could include losing your license for a year or more, having to pay fines, court costs and legal fees that could easily exceed $10,000, jail time, or community service, among other possible penalties. In addition, you could be required to have a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock device affixed to your car – requiring you to pass a breathalyzer test every time you turn the key.
- It Will Affect Your Insurance: Once a DUI is on your record, if your insurance company doesn't void your insurance (forcing you to shop for state-sponsored pool insurance in order to remain a legal driver), your rates will increase exponentially on top of already rising insurance rates. And DUIs are on your record for life.
- The Shame Factor: In some states, DUI convicts are listed in local papers, but even if your community doesn't do this, you'll still have to tell your family. What will your parents, spouse or partner, or kids say?
- Someone Could Die: Somewhere in the country, there's an alcohol-related death every 32 minutes, and an alcohol-related injury every two minutes. If you drink and drive, one of those deaths or injuries could be you, your passengers, or someone you crash into. I think the worst pain of all would be to injure someone else, someones mother, brother sister, friend, co-worker. If anything at all makes you think, please let it at least be this. Don't let it happen. Get help!
No one is disputing the fact that it's easy to drink just a little too much and overestimate your sobriety, so keep it simple: if you drink, don't drive. At all.
Links:
http://www.aa.org
http://www.aacanada.com/
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Smashed: A Sober Look at Drinking and Driving
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