thehonestdoctor.com

This will be a quick one.  I know you’re anxious to start your weekend. 

A simple piece of advice you’ve heard at least a thousand times before:  don’t operate a motor vehicle after drinking alcohol.  This message is so ubiquitous that it’s almost become part of the background noise in our society.  If you’re interested in improving your life odds however, you need to understand why this message is so important.

A general category titled “Accidents” is ranked number 5 on the top ten hit list of things that kill us.  A large percentage of those accidents are motor vehicle accidents.  Now if you want to function in modern society and you don’t live in NYC, Chicago, London, or another city with practical public transit, you’re probably going to be stuck getting behind the wheel, so you can’t avoid the risk of a motor vehicle accident entirely.  However, you can dramatically reduce your risk for dying in a car accident by not getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.  And that includes any amount of alcohol.  We’re all notoriously bad at judging our own blood alcohol content just based on how we feel or how much we’ve had to drink.

Based on 2005 statistics, over 43,000 people died in traffic accidents, and almost 17,000 of those were alcohol related.  That number is dwarfed by the 254,000 people who were injured, many seriously, in accidents where alcohol was present.  I’m certain many of the individuals involved in those accidents would tell you there are some fates worse than death, such as spending your life in prison after killing a child while driving intoxicated, or living the rest of your days as a quadriplegic.  By comparison, trying to function with a suspended license after being pulled over while driving intoxicated would seem like a minor nuisance.

In short:  get a designated driver, or take a cab, or don’t drink alcohol.  It’s that simple.  And it’s worth the hassle.  Don’t let one bad decision ruin your life, and perhaps the lives of others as well.