Resist the Urge to Drive Drunk
If you have a strong desire or impulse to drive drunk, you must resist it. It's not easy to talk yourself out of doing something you really want to, but considering all the consequences of driving after you have got yourself drunk, should be a major deterrent.
Steps
- Remember that your judgement is impaired when you are drunk. Unless you've set out to get drunk, you've already made a bad decision by allowing yourself to get drunk. Don't make another one by driving. You might think you are okay to drive, but you may of thought you weren't going to get drunk, however, you did.
- If you get behind the wheel, you might give into the urge to speed or drive recklessly giving yourself more chances to get into trouble.
- Driving drunk and getting into a fender-bender could lead to a road rage incident. You won't be able to defend your self when you're drunk or you might escalate a minor incident into a major incident if you can't control your urges.
- Avoid giving into the urge to waste money! If you drive drunk, you risk smashing up your car. Getting it fixed will cost you money, you might loose your no-claims insurance bonus. You might have to spend more on rides to work, you may even not be able to get to work without your car which could lead to you loosing income. Ask yourself do you want to risk losing money as much as you feel the urge to drive drunk?
- Avoid the urge to encounter the authorities. It's unlikely you enjoy interacting with the police when you're committing a crime - resist the urge to do so by not driving drunk. The police will fine you, may take your car away from you, may ban you from driving, may charge you with any other offences you've committed and may inform your employer which may lead to you loosing your job. Your chances for potential future employment may be affected, not all organisations are happy to employ those with drunk driving convictions.
- Resist the urge to be killed or injured. Whilst many people self harm, if you can't resist the urge to drive drink, you're giving into the impulse to risk being hurt, seriously injured or killed. Every time you drive, it's a risk, driving drunk increases your chances of being injured or killed exponentially. You may have to pay for health care if you're injured, you might lose your job if you have to have time off work because of your injuries. You could inflict life changing injuries on yourself becoming wheelchair bound, suffering a head injury that affects you cognitively for the rest of your life, you may be scarred etc. If you give into the urge to drive drunk, you're risking life and limb.
- Avoid the risk of harming others. If you cannot resist the urge to drive drunk, you have to commit to potentially killing or injuring other road users. You could crash into another car or mow down a pedestrian. Even a minor incident might have serious effects on someone else. If you have an accident that damages someone else's car, they might loose their job because they can't get to work. It won't just affect them but their whole family.
- Prepare to disappoint your family and friends. If you can't resist the urge to drive drunk, be ready to deal with people you know judging you. Even if you manage to make it home driving a vehicle whilst intoxicated, people you know will likely tell you you're are foolish to take such a risk. They'll rightly tell you you could've been killed. They'll be upset that you didn't care enough to not risk your life, the lives of other and your livelihood. If you are hurt or stopped by the police, your friends and family won't be pleased. You and them will have to deal with any consequence for the rest of your life.
- Understand that doing this once may lead you to be foolish enough to think you can do it again. You will be amazingly lucky to get away with driving drunk once, if you do it again, you almost certainly won't get away with it. You might also belive that you'll be okay after one, two or three drinks if you managed to drive drunk, you shouldn't drive after consuming alcohol full stop.
- Let another urge overcome you instead. Go to sleep if you're tired instead of driving home. You'll have to find your keys, find the car, remember where you live or where you are staying....it's a lot of hassle. Just give into the urge to take it easy and let someone call you a cab, give you a lift home or find somewhere else to sleep for the night.
Tips
- Do not think that being an experienced driver makes it okay for you to drive after consuming alcohol. Alcohol impairs driving regardless of how much experience they have.
Related Articles
- Avoid Drinking and Driving
- Keep Your Friend from Driving Drunk
- Join Alcoholics Anonymous
