Know the risks of drunk driving this holiday season

Many people think that they can enjoy the festive offers of alcohol at parties without having to worry about anything. If you are planning on driving home, it might be best to skip the alcohol. If you opt to drive drunk during the holiday season, there is a chance that you will face criminal charges; however, there is a chance that you will end up involved in a fatal accident.

Over the holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, drunk drivers are involved in 40 percent of the fatal accidents on the roadways. This percentage peaks during the New Year’s holiday when drunk drivers are involved in 58 percent of fatal accidents.

Compare those percentages to the 29 percent of fatal accidents that involve drunk drivers throughout the rest of the year. This is why it is important to drive sober or find a designated driver after the holiday party.

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s two to three times more people die in alcohol-related accidents than during other periods of the same duration during the remainder of the year. Around 25,000 people will be injured in drunk driving accidents during this time.

Even if you aren’t planning on drinking at the party, you might be pressured to do so. Around 22 percent of party goers report that they have felt pressured to consume alcohol while at the party.

If you do have to drive after you have been drinking, there is a good chance that you will face drunk driving charges. Knowing the options that you have for a defense can help you to determine what you are going to do.

Source: SCRAM Systems, “Drinking and DUIs During the Holidays,” accessed Dec. 16, 2016