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St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday where everyone in the country claims to be of Irish ancestry. The holiday is celebrated with individuals dressing up in anything green they can wear as well as the consumption of copious amounts of beer dyed green. While the day is often full of celebration of one’s heritage or merely just an excuse to binge drink, St. Patrick’s Day brings with it an atmosphere of excess and dangerous situations. Unfortunately, the celebration of Ireland’s patron saint is too frequently ruined by drunk-driving incidents.
St. Patrick’s Day is the Fourth Drunkest Holiday
According to WalletHub, St. Patrick’s Day is the fourth most popular day for binge drinking, trailing only New Year’s Eve, Christmas, and the Fourth of July. An estimated 60% of Americans celebrated the holiday in 2018 with nearly $5.9 billion spent. With so many people planning on drinking this holiday and such an excess of alcohol being purchased and consumed, it is no wonder why the risk for accidents is one of the highest all year.
Just in 2016 alone, 60 people were killed in accidents involving drunk driving on St. Patrick’s day which nearly doubles the average daily death toll in the United States according to the NHTSA. 75% of fatal crashes on this holiday involved a driver having consumed double the legal limit. Leaving a party or bar early may also benefit you as nearly 69% of crash fatalities this holiday occurred from midnight to 6 am on March 18th.
Avoiding Disaster this Holiday
There is no harm in celebrating St. Patrick’s Day as long as you do so responsibly. Even though drinking alcohol does lower one’s inhibitions, planning ahead for the night could save you a lifetime of agony. Driving while intoxicated is dangerous and irresponsible, endangering the safety of yourself as well as others on the road. Here is some tips to avoid being involved in an accident this St. Patrick’s Day:
- Arrange a Designated Driver: While being the only sober one in the group may not always be the most exciting, it can go a long way in securing the safety of yourself and your loved ones. If you don’t have a designated driver going out with you that night, arrange for a friend to pick you up whenever your night is coming to a close.
- Public Transportation: Even when you may not have a designated driver for the night or an arranged ride home, the city you reside in should have some form of public transportation for you to use. In the Dallas area, the DART buses and trains are efficient and safe alternatives to drinking and driving. Taxi services in the city are also beneficial.
- Order a Lyft/Uber: Ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft offer an alternative to drinking and driving that past generations did not have. With just the touch of a button, a car will come and pick you up at your location to drop you off at the destination of your choosing. Some may complain about the price of the ride, but the money spent on a safe ride home beats the penalty of upwards of $24,000 you may get with a DUI.
St. Patrick’s Day can be a great day to celebrate with your friends and family, but if you don’t take the necessary precautions, the night can end up turning deadly in a hurry. Planning a festive night out should also involve planning a safe ride home whether it be with a sober friend or a taxi service. If you or a loved one are involved in an accident and are looking for a drunk driving attorney, do not hesitate to contact us today!
