New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest nights to celebrate and that is saying something in St. Louis. All during the year, St. Louisans love to celebrate Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s, Fourth of July and dozens of other holidays including beer gardens and wine festivals. However, NYE is typically one of the most dangerous nights on the roadways. Occasionally, NYE will involve snow and or ice, but generally the biggest danger is the drunk driver.Problem is, no one wants to be the “designated driver”.
The definition of a “designated driver” is NOT any of the following:
1. The person who stopped drinking 2 hours before getting in the car to go home.
2. The “least drunk” of the group.
3. The person who generally ‘holds their liquor’ better than everyone else.
4. The only person who did not do shots!
If the above criteria is the criteria you have used to select your designated driver–then, that’s the first mistake. If you’re DD is one of the above, your plan is likely to fail and may result in tickets or worse, crashes. The Designated Driver is the person who has not Anything to drink and is alert. Yes, I know, it is not fun to be the designated driver, but on nights like NYE, it is critical that you have a designated driver or you have clearly planned your way home safely. Depending on your final planned destination for the evening and the location of your celebrating, you need to plan accordingly.
There are numerous things you can do INSTEAD of climbing behind the wheel and driving while under the influence:
1. Designate a sober driver. The rest of the group should maybe treat the designated driver to food and soft drinks and be extra considerate of that friend who agrees to be the designated driver. At some point, we have all been the designated driver and a card load of your inconsiderate, drunk friends is not really all that fun, so work especially hard not to be argumentative with the designated driver—the DD probably has a better perception of a situation than his/her drunk comrades regarding transportation and getting everyone home safely. Most bars provide free soda for a DD–just let your bartender know who your DD is
2. Dependable Designated Drivers – Phone (314) 641-4444 – a driver drives you home in your own car!
3. Scooter Guy (314) 255-1800. The driver drives you home in your own car.
4. St. Louis Designated Driver: (314) 330-6598- Driver drives you home in your own vehicle
5. By My DD: 1(877) U-BEMYDD- Option for driver bringing you home or for a personal driver through hours you set
6. Cabs. – Download our handy app that will call a cab depending on your location (it geographically locates the closest cabs to your location) or the individual St. Louis cab companies are listed below:
- ABC Cab (800) 829-4222
- ABC Checker Cab (314) 725-2111
- Laclede Cab (314) 652-3456
- County Cab/Yellow Cab (314) 993-8294 or (636) 532-6699
When planning your way home, it is good to remember that cabs will be busy and you will want to call in advance of the time you want to actually use the cab. Promptly be where you tell the cab company you will be, or you can guarantee they will leave you. Lots of people need cabs on NYE, so plan ahead.
On average each year, approximately 16,000 people are killed in alcohol related crashes and more than one-third of all fatal traffic accidents involve at least one person with a BAC over 0.08. Don’t start off the year by becoming a statistic. Local and state police will be heavily patrolling this NYE’s and they will be looking for those not driving safely and/or perhaps drinking. However, an even bigger deterrent from getting a DUI is the possibility that by driving drunk, you can kill yourself, your friends or strangers.
At The Cagle Law Firm, we wish each of you a prosperous and healthy New Year. We want you to celebrate the end of 2014 and all of the promise of the 2015. We want you to do it safely so you can welcome many New Year’s to come!
Our attorneys can be reached seven days a week, locally (314) 276-1681 or toll free (800) 685-3302
