GrownUps New Zealand

A Safe And Festive Christmas

11131 festive

The new breath alcohol limits are in force and already publicans are noticing a drop in sales, as punters are uncertain about how many drinks they are allowed and still be able to safely and legally drive.

There has been much publicity, and conflicting information – some news outlets have run stories that you can drink far more than anticipated and still be under the new limit, other reports say it is far less.

The breath alcohol limits are set with safety in mind. The question is, how are you getting to and from all the Christmas celebrations?

Alcohol, used responsibly, can be great fun, but the more you have, the more your judgment is impaired (although it’s best not to have this debate with someone who has already had a few!). Make arrangements ahead of time.

Arrange a carpool with a designated driver, leave earlier than usual and walk to your destination, try the public transport offered in your area, book a taxi or commit to driving one way only and leave your car parked and locked.

If in doubt, don’t drive. There are too many sad stories of people ‘just going around the corner’ or ‘feeling fine’ who wake to disaster the next morning.

Speaking of the next morning; a couple of hours sleep is not always enough to sober up for driving. Checkpoints are out in force at 7am for a reason – they pick up a lot of drivers still under the weather from the night before. If your night ends up bigger than Texas, take the bus to work!

Have a safe and festive Christmas.