Impaired Driving & Boating
Tips for Safe Driving
Being a responsible driver is simple: If you are impaired, DO NOT drive.
1. Plan
Plan your safe ride home before you start the party, choose a non-impaired friend as a designated driver.
2. Arrange
If someone you know has been drinking or using drugs, do not let that person get behind the wheel. Take their keys and help them arrange a sober ride home.
3. Call
If you drink or use drugs, do not drive for any reason. Call a taxi, a ride-hailing service, or a sober friend.
4. Ensure
If you’re hosting a party where alcohol will be served, make sure all guests leave with a sober driver.
5. Defend
Always wear your seat belt — it’s your best defense against other impaired drivers.
Call 911: If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact local law enforcement. Your actions could help save someone’s life.
Q & A: Alcohol-Impaired Driving
One person is killed in a drunk-driving crash every 45 minutes in the United States.
1. How does alcohol affect your driving ability?
Alcohol is a substance that reduces the function of the brain, impairing thinking, reasoning and muscle coordination. All these abilities are essential to operating a vehicle safely.
As alcohol levels rise in a person’s system, the negative effects on the central nervous system increase. Alcohol is absorbed directly through the walls of the stomach and small intestine. Then it passes into the bloodstream where it accumulates until it is metabolized by the liver.
2. Why does Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) matter?
A person’s alcohol level is measured by the weight of the alcohol in a certain volume of blood. This is called Blood Alcohol Concentration, or BAC. This can be measured with a breathalyzer or by a blood test.
At a BAC of .08 grams of alcohol per deciliter (g/dL) of blood, crash risk increases exponentially. However, even a small amount of alcohol can affect driving ability. Every year, thousands of people are killed in alcohol-related crashes where a driver had a BAC of .01 to .07 g/dL.
3. What are the consequences?
If you drive while impaired, you could get arrested, or worse — be involved in a traffic crash that causes serious injury or death.
Tough enforcement of drunk-driving laws has been a major factor in reducing drunk-driving deaths. Charges range from misdemeanors to felony offenses, and penalties for impaired driving can include driver’s license revocation, fines, and jail time. It’s also extremely expensive. A first-time offense can cost the driver upwards of $10,000 in fines and legal fees.
Call 911: If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact local law enforcement. Your actions could help save someone’s life.
Quick Facts: Drug-Impaired Driving
Raising Awareness: There’s more than one way to be under the influence.
1. If you feel different, you drive different.
Rx Medications
Some prescription drugs can induce drowsiness, cause nausea, affect judgement, and lessen coordination, all of which can prove fatal when driving.
Over-the-Counter (OTC)
OTC drugs may cause drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, irregular heartbeat or shakiness. Use caution to avoid operating motor vehicles when taking these drugs.
Illicit Drugs
Marijuana can impair the ability to drive because it slows coordination, judgment, and reaction times. Cocaine and methamphetamine can make drivers more aggressive and reckless.
2. Mixing Drugs
Some medications may not impair you on their own, but if taken with a second medication, alcohol, or illicit drug — they may cause impairment.
3. DUI Laws
Driving while impaired by any substance is illegal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Violating state DUI laws that make it illegal to drive impaired by any substance — including prescription drugs, OTC medications, illegal drugs and alcohol — can result in arrest.
Call 911: If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact local law enforcement. Your actions could help save someone’s life.
DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES
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Moncks Corner, SC 29461
(843) 761-8272
(843) 577-9181
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Goose Creek, SC 29445
(843) 797-7871
Fax: (843) 797-8638
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