St. Patrick's Day Weekend DUIs

St. Patrick’s Day is pretty famous the country over for being a night of drinking green-tinted alcohol with friends and family. But when it falls on a Thursday, as it did this year (2016), it can be difficult to really enjoy yourself knowing that you have work in the morning. All of the biggest parties have yet to begin and will make St. Patrick’s Day weekend an exciting one. But the police are aware of this, too, and will be combing the streets for intoxicated drivers committing driving under the influence (DUI) offenses.

Before you hit up any St. Patrick’s parties, be sure you know and remember these smart tips to prevent getting arrest for a DUI:

  1. 1 drink-per-hour: Alcoholic beverages intoxicate a person as the ethanol within is metabolized and enters the bloodstream. For the average person, one beer or one shot of hard liquor has enough ethanol to cause noticeable intoxication over the course of one hour. If you are plan on drinking at a St. Patrick’s Day weekend party, limit yourself to one drink each hour with glasses of water in between to stay hydrated.
  2. Keymaster: Each party or event generally has at least one person who is dedicated to collecting the keys of anyone who drove there. This “keymaster” will remain sober and make certain no one drunk gets a hand on their keys. You may want to consider forfeiting your keys, even if you don’t plan on drinking much.
  3. Ridesharing: The biggest new craze to get home safely is using ridesharing services like Uber or Lyft. Look at your smartphone’s apps and you will probably already have one or the other installed and updated. This is part of an initiative from cellphone manufacturers to encourage safe driving practices. If you are buzzed and need to get home, use an app to call a ride, or just ask your smartphone to call a taxi company.
  4. Faithful friends: Green alcohol just doesn’t have the same appeal if you aren’t’ sharing it with friends. Go to each party you are going to attend this weekend with a friend and choose which one of you will be the sober designated driver. That’s what friends are for!
  5. Safe haven: Planning on having a blast with your friends for St. Patty’s? Just check with the host ahead of time to see if you can spend the night on a couch or in a guest room. Even sleeping on the ground with a blanket will be much more comfortable than in a cold jail cell.

No Plan is Foolproof

Sometimes you can plan your night ahead for hours and still wind up getting pulled over for a DUI. There is even a chance you got arrested for a DUI when you were completely sober and with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level well under the legal limit of 0.08%. When this happens, you need to retain legal representation as soon as you can.

You should use your “one phone call” to dial (888) 744-3057 and speak to Fairfield County criminal defense attorney Vincent R. Maher. With more than 100 trials seen to jury and an impressive records of victories, we have become a well-known name in criminal defense.

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