Celebrate Smart: Tips For Staying Safe This Festive Season

The festive season is a time for joy and celebration, often leading to family gatherings, office parties, and well-earned downtime with your friends. It will come as no surprise that during the festive period the risk of drink or drug driving increases exponentially. Between spontaneous nights out and a packed social calendar, too often individuals misjudge their limits or feel pressured into having “just one more”. 

Staying safe isn’t just about avoiding a potential fine, penalty points, or a disqualification, it’s about protecting yourself and everyone else around you. With that in mind, below are our top tips to ensure you never get behind the wheel impaired this festive season.

Understand the Real Consequences

It is important that you understand that drink and drug driving are serious offences with real consequences. Whilst you may not feel impaired, your level of impairment/unfitness to drive is not a pre-requisite to being charged. Drink driving and drug driving have legal limits, and all that has to be shown is that you were over the legal limit whilst driving to be found guilty of the offence.

Drink or drug driving can result in:

• A mandatory 12-month minimum disqualification from driving.
• A fine, community order, or in the worst case scenario custodial sentence.
• Increase in insurance premiums.
• Irreparable reputational damage.
• Job or travel restrictions.
• Injury or death to yourself, or others.

Given the serious consequences, it is important to understand that a moment of poor judgment can lead to life changing repercussions.

Plan Your Transportation Ahead of Time

The safest and simplest strategy to avoid the possibility of driving whilst under the influence is to not drive at all.

There are a number of alternatives an individual can use to remove the necessity to drive, such as:

• Booking a taxi in advance.
• Arranging a lift from family or friends who will be sober.
• Making use of public transportation.

If you ensure you do not drive and make plans in advance, it is far less likely you’ll be able to make any risky decision later.

Stay Overnight

Another safe alternative is to stay overnight with friends, family, or rented accommodation close to the venue/in the area you will be going out in. Whilst this will likely come at an additional cost to yourself, by planning ahead you can keep any costs to a minimum whilst ensuring the safety for yourself and other road users.

Nominate a Designated Driver

If you are heading out with a group, there will often be someone who has made the decision not to drink who could potentially drive you. If not, it may be a good idea as a group to nominate a designated driver.

This could be something done as a team effort, where you can rotate who is the designated driver at each event during the festive season.

As a show of appreciation, your group could chip in on fuel, soft drinks, and food for the designated driver.

By planning who will be the designated driver in advance, it is much more likely that the individual will stick to the original plan.

Don’t Make Assumptions

People often assume they are fine to drive after a few drinks or taking substances earlier in the night, however, in reality:

• You can still be over the drink or drug drive limit.
• Tolerance doesn’t equal safety. Feeling fine doesn’t mean you’re physically or legally safe to drive.
• No amount of guesswork or online calculators can guarantee how much alcohol or drugs is left in your system.

If you have consumed alcohol or drugs, even in smaller amounts, you should not drive.

Use Alcohol-Free Alternatives

Festivities don’t have to revolve around alcohol and drugs! You can have just as much fun at a social event whilst consuming alcohol-free alternatives.

Alcohol-free beer, wine, and cocktails have come a long way. Many alcohol-free substitutes now taste very similar to their alcoholic counterparts and ensure you will be safe to drive.

Another alternative is to see if the venue you are at has festive mocktails. This will allow you to feel included but keep you sober and safe to drive.

Don’t Succumb to Peer Pressure

“Come on, you can have one more drink”. Does this sound familiar? Peer pressure can be a subtle yet powerful influence that can lead you to risking the safety of you and others.

Ensure you have a response prepared for any peer pressure, and most people will respect your decision immediately when you set a clear boundary.

Acknowledge the Risks the Morning After

One of the biggest myths is that sleep, coffee, or a shower sobers you up. This could not be further from the truth. Time is the only factor when considering the elimination of alcohol or drugs from your body.

If you have had a heavy night, you should:

• Avoid driving early in the morning. Give yourself several hours, sometimes until midday or later, just to be safe.
• If you are unsure, don’t drive.

When it comes to drugs, they can often be in your system in excess of the specified limit for days later. If you do happen to take any illicit substances, it would be wise to avoid driving for a couple of days after the fact. Even then, it may still be possible for the drug to be in your system. The only way to ensure you aren’t drug driving, is to not take illegal substances.

Final Thoughts

The festive season is about joy and celebration. By planning ahead, staying informed, and looking out for yourself and others, you can enjoy every moment without risking harm on the road. It won’t be the most wonderful time of the year if you, or anyone else, doesn’t get home safe.

How can Olliers help?

If you or someone you know is facing a motoring charge this festive season, our expert motoring solicitors are here to help, offering confidential and professional legal support at every stage of your case.

Contact our specialist motoring team by emailing info@olliers.com or by telephoning 01618341515 (Manchester) or 02038836790 (London).