We all start out our evenings with a silent promise to be responsible adults. There’s little thought to a designated driver or a safe ride home, because we’re only going to have a couple of drinks with our friends. We’ll drink water, eat food and not go beyond our limit. Then, the alcohol hits and those two drinks easily become two drinks, a few shots and maybe another drink or two at the end of the night. The leading cause of drinking and driving is alcohol-impaired judgement, so if you can’t keep yourself from that slippery slope, what kind of “wake up call” will?
If the possibility of a car breathalyzer requirement isn’t enough incentive, what about a chat with a convicted drunk driver get you to change your mind about driving home? MADD recently produced a PSA featuring that scenario, via bathroom chats with the “man in the mirror” – a convicted drunk driver. Much like the mirror shattering visuals of past anti-drinking and driving PSAs, this recent campaign was an obvious attempt to reach people in a most spectacular way and in an exceptionally private venue.
The lesson here is not that people listen better in bathrooms, but that giving a person the chance to reflect on their level of intoxication can make a difference. That means that even though you had the best intentions to stay sober, each bathroom break is a chance to check in with yourself and decide whether you should be driving home. If you have any doubts, then you should immediately go to plan B: finding a safe ride home.
Nobody sets out to be a drunk driver, or to have a car breathalyzer as a result of that choice, but there is always that risk whenever alcohol is a part of the fun. Before you make a mistake, take a bathroom break and see what happens in the mirror. You’ll probably skip the PSA, but you won’t miss out on the benefits of responsible, sober driving.
Sober Driving 101: Medical vs. Legal BAC