New Year’s Eve is the time for new beginnings and celebrations with family and friends. Everyone gets together to reminisce over the events of the year as well as make plans for new experiences and memories. And while any get-together has to have food, NYE is usually marked by copious amounts of drinking, especially with champagne, to ring in and toast the new year. That said, NYE happens to also be a dangerous time to drive as many people will drink and throw the rules out the window. With drunk drivers unconcerned about the consequences of drinking and driving, car collisions abound on NYE. Whether you’re trying to make your way home after a good party or you’re driving your friends home as the designated driver, here are some good tips from a lawyer, like one at a drunk driving accident law firm like an office such as Barry P. Goldberg to keep in mind to help yourself avoid collisions this NYE.
Never drink and drive: If you’re the DD of the group, you are the last person who should be drinking. Even a little alcohol can sway and impair your senses just enough that you’ll pay less attention to the road and drive less defensively, thus leaving you vulnerable to collisions. If you are the DD of the group you have to honor your commitment so you and your friends make it home safely.
Ignore distractions: If you’re the DD of the group, you’ll probably end up getting pressured into joining the raucous jubilation of the group from having high-spirited chats to looking away at whatever they’re trying to show you. But as the driver, you have to maintain your focus on the road and what’s happening on it so you can make it to your destination safely. Drive the speed limit, remember and adhere to all the rules you would normally commit to any other day of the year, and you’ll passively be promoting a safer driving environment for everyone during NYE.
Schedule a rideshare driver: If your DD doesn’t work out or if you were supposed to be the DD and chose to drink anyway, you will definitely want to get yourself a rideshare driver. And while it will almost surely be more expensive given the fact that it is NYE, it is much more practical to get a rideshare driver. In doing so, not only will you be ensuring you’ll get home safe, but you’re also eliminating the possibility of getting into a car collision or getting into jail.
Even if you are as safe as possible driving on NYE, it is still possible to get into an accident when someone else on the road has been drinking and driving. If you have been in a drunk driving accident and would like to seek legal help from