Many individuals typically attend an office party or family gathering during the month of December. If you are planning on consuming alcohol, it is imperative that you have a plan to get home safely. Drivers in South Carolina may be charged with DUI if their blood alcohol levels are 0.08 or higher. Learn more about how you can avoid a DUI charge this holiday season.
Designate a driver before leaving home
Say that you are a heavy drinker while your spouse generally abstains from alcohol. In such a scenario, you should ask your spouse to drive home from a family gathering or workplace event. If you are going to an event by yourself, you could ask a friend or family member to pick you up from the gathering at a certain time.
Call a taxi
If you don’t have anyone who is able to give you a ride home from a holiday event, don’t hesitate to call a taxi. This is a good idea even if you have to leave your car at the bar, your friend’s house or in a parking garage overnight. Even if your vehicle is towed while you’re away, the cost of getting it out of an impound lot is significantly less than the cost of a DUI.
Spend the night where you are
As a general rule, consuming one alcoholic beverage will increase your blood alcohol level by about 0.02. Typically, your body can process the equivalent of one drink per hour. Therefore, you will need to wait about an hour for each beverage that you consume before it is safe to drive again. In other words, if you drink four beers, you’ll have to wait four hours before your blood alcohol level is close to zero. This may require staying overnight to ensure that you don’t get behind the wheel while impaired.
If you are charged with DUI, there’s a chance that officer error in administering a test led to the charge. A defense attorney may be able to dispute the results of a blood, urine or Breathalyzer test in an effort to get your case dismissed.
