The police in West Virginia take driving under the influence of alcohol seriously. One Greene County man faces DUI charges after he drove recklessly and sent his vehicle crashing into a mailbox, all while his daughter was in the backseat.
You may never dream of doing something so reckless. However, every night in West Virginia, people drive after drinking alcohol. It is a serious risk. If the cops arrest you for drunk driving, it is entirely possible you could pay a fine, go to jail and lose your license. You can still have a night of fun as long as you are serious about protecting yourself and getting home safely.
Be smart about how you drink
The rule of thumb is that you can consume one alcoholic drink every hour. That includes 12 ounces of beer, 1.5 ounces of hard liquor or five ounces of wine. You should be particularly wary of mixed drinks. Some places add way more alcohol than they should, so you will become intoxicated faster. You need to pace yourself and have a non-alcoholic drink for every alcoholic one. You should also eat plenty of food and avoid drinking games.
Have a transportation app on your phone
Ideally, your party will have a designated driver who can take everyone home. However, if you drove to the party yourself, then no one may be able to drive you back. This is why you always want to have an app, such as Lyft or Uber, ready to go. You may not plan on drinking too much, but one thing could lead to another before you are over the legal limit. You should never make excuses for how you are good to drive when it is clearly not the case. If you do not think you can trust yourself to do the right thing, then give your keys to someone you can trust to keep you away from your car.