We’re just hours away from a new decade, and if you plan on ringing in the new year with some spirits, you need to make sure that you find a safe way home. New Year’s Eve and the early morning hours of New Year’s Day are some of the deadliest hours on the roads, so avoid them is possible, especially if you’ve been drinking. In today’s blog, we share some facts about drinking and driving on New Year’s Eve.
Getting Home Safe Tonight
If you’re going to have some champagne or celebrate the new year at the bar tonight, now is the time to figure out how you’ll get home safe. We mean it, take some time right now to figure out how you’re going to get home tonight. Pull out your phone and see if your friend will be the designated driver, download the Uber or Lyft app or look up the information for bus routes in your area. Do it now before we continue the blog. We’ll wait.
Okay, now that you know how you’re getting home, there shouldn’t be any issues tonight. However, even though you’ve made plans to get home safe tonight, not everyone is as smart as you. There will still be plenty of people who get behind the wheel after drinking, and that can make for a scary situation on the roads. Police know that tonight is one of the deadliest nights on the road, so they’ve already announced that they will be conducting extra DUI enforcement throughout the night all across Minnesota. There’s never a good time to drive drunk, but tonight is especially dangerous because cops will be everywhere, and they won’t let you off with a warning.
Here’s a look at some statistics about drinking and driving over the New Year’s holiday:
- Roughly 140 people will lose their lives on the roads on New Years Day due to alcohol-related crashes.
- January 1st has statistically been the day of the year with the highest percentage of traffic deaths related to alcohol.
- Only about 28 people die each day to alcohol-related crashes, so there’s a huge increase in the next 24 hours.
- Males between the ages of 21-24 are most likely to be involved in a drunk driving crash.
- Driving hungover can still lead to a DUI if your BAC remains elevated.
- Roughly 42 percent of auto accidents on New Year’s Eve are alcohol-related.
- A DUI can lead to fines, jail time, the revocation of your license, increased insurance rates, probation, mandatory substance education courses and much more, so avoid a DUI at all costs.
If you or someone you know ends up in handcuffs tonight in the greater Twin Cities area, make sure pick up the phone and call Appelman Law Firm. We heavily staff our phones tonight to ensure everyone who calls can get through any time of the night. For help with any criminal law issue tonight, give us a call at (952) 224-2277. Have a wonderful new year!
