Prevent Your Party Guests from Driving Drunk This Holiday Season

The holiday season is a time to get together with family and friends and celebrate by eating delicious foods and, for many people, drinking alcoholic beverages. If you are planning on hosting a party at your home, you should be aware of how much alcohol you serve and how your guests will get home safely. By making a few safe decisions before your party, you may actually save the life of one of your guests.

Driving Drunk Increases during the Holiday Season

With so many office, home and family parties during the holiday season, it isn't surprising that fatalities involving drunk drivers increase during this time period. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an average of 45 fatalities per day occurs over the Christmas holidays (considered a 3 day period on average) from alcohol related crashes. Over the New Year's holiday, this figure jumps to 54 fatalities a day in alcohol related crashes. These figures are much higher as compared to the average of 33 fatalities a day for the rest of the days in December.

If losing a friend or family member isn't bad enough, you may also be legally liable for any accident or death that occurs after serving alcohol to a person in your home. Although every state is different, some do hold the server of the alcohol liable for any accident or death that may occur resulting from a guest driving drunk. Civil or criminal charges could be brought against you and fines, monetary damages awards and even imprisonment could be imposed. This is why it is important to make sure friends and family don't drive home drunk from your holiday party.

Ways to Prevent Guests from Driving Home Drunk

If you plan on serving alcohol at your next holiday party and you value the lives of family and friends, you should consider trying some of the following tips to prevent drunk driving:

• Be responsible - Limit how much you drink at your own party so you are better able to determine which of your friends or family members are able to drive home and which may need an alternative plan.
• Hire a bartender - Consider hiring a bartender for your party so guests do not have access to mixing their own drinks. This will cut down on drinks being made too strong and people drinking too much. Also, a bartender will be able to see who has had too much alcohol and let you know whom you should keep an eye on at the end of the party.
• Serve food first - Most parties have an hour or so of drinking before eating dinner or serving hors d'oeuvres and this can lead to people becoming inebriated quicker. It's a proven fact that food helps counter the effects of alcohol, so serve food before and while serving drinks.
• Encourage designated drivers - As the guests arrive, discreetly ask each one if they have a designated driver or plan to get home in the event they imbibe too much alcohol. Be sure to have non-alcoholic beverages available for those who will not be drinking. You can make it fun by offering the virgin version of their favorite drink. If a guest drinks too much and has no way to get home, find a sober friend to drop him off, offer to take him home (if you are sober), call a taxi and pay for it yourself or offer for him to stay overnight. If your guest looks and acts drunk, don't let him out the door with his car keys.
• Close the bar one hour or more before the end of the party - Stop serving drinks at a certain time and offer food and coffee or other non-alcoholic beverages to your guests before they leave. This may be all it takes for most of your guests to sober up and be able to drive home safely.

You can have a happy holiday party without the worry of your guests ending up in an accident on their way home. By putting some of these tips into action, you and your friends and family will have a memorable, and safe, holiday.