Ah, St. Patrick’s day. A day of green clothes, green beer, and lots of DUI arrests.
Americans seem primed to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Some 52.4% of Americans plan to celebrate, up from 45.2% last year, according to NRF’s 2011 St. Patrick’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions survey.
In 2009, there were 103 crash fatalities in the United States on St. Patrick’s Day, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. According to NHTSA, 37% of those accidents involved a driver with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit of 0.08%.
So how do you avoid a St. Patrick’s Day DUI? It’s easy. Don’t drive, duh… Of course, lots of people never imagine they will drive drunk, and then they go out, drink too much and decide to drive because of impaired judgment. The next thing they know, they’re in jail and looking for a DUI attorney. So why not look to the NHTSA for advice for how to plan ahead:
- Plan a safe way home before the festivities begin.
- Before drinking, designate a sober driver and leave your car keys at home.
- If you’re impaired, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation so you are sure to get home safely.
- If you know someone who is about to drive while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.
Related Resources:
- Field Sobriety Tests and Sobriety Checkpoints (FindLaw)
- The Current State of Sobriety Checkpoints in California (FindLaw)
- The Fourth Amendment “Reasonableness” Requirement (FindLaw)
You Don’t Have To Solve This on Your Own – Get a Lawyer’s Help
Civil Rights
Block on Trump’s Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court
Criminal
Judges Can Release Secret Grand Jury Records
Politicians Can’t Block Voters on Facebook, Court Rules
