Holiday parties become more frequent in December. You have family planning Christmas and New Year’s get-togethers, as well as your friends and coworkers. It may become simple to ignore all safety precautions when it comes to drinking and driving after the first party you attend. Just because you had one drink, you will think you haven’t been affected by the alcohol you consumed. Still, you must remain knowledgeable on the effects alcohol has on you and the negative implications it will have on others if you choose to drive after a few drinks.
Alcohol is a depressant drug that slows down the activity of the central nervous system, which includes the brain. The effects alcohol has on your driving ability are many. It impairs your vision, reduces your reaction time and concentration, boosts confidence which may lead to risk-taking and disobeying road rules, and may cause the driver to fall asleep behind the wheel. Alcohol also affects a person’s personality causing them to act and respond differently than one normally would.
If you’d like to know how to stay safe behind the wheel, the safest option is to not drink. If you decide to drink, you can monitor the number of drinks you have each hour. This may be difficult to monitor if you change drinks frequently. Different drinks have different amounts of alcohol. You may have to drink less to keep your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) under .05%. Even though the legal limit is .08%, you don’t want to match it since your BAC can continue to rise three hours after your last drink.
Other options you have to limit your drinking include drinking non-alcoholic beers, avoid topping off your glass as it difficult to track your drinks accurately, avoid mixed drinks and drink low-alcohol drinks, and sip on your drinks instead of “chugging” or taking shots.
You should wait at least an hour for each drink you’ve had before driving. Waiting is the only way to remove alcohol from your system no matter how much coffee and water you have after. If you have had too much to drink, make other arrangements so you don’t have to drive to get home. Be safe and Happy Holidays!