According to The Washington Post, Drunk driving deaths increased nationwide in 2012 from 9865 to 10,322 (4.6 percent). When out with friends, it is everyone’s responsibility to make sure that they and their loved ones arrive home safe.
But pointing out that a person has had too much to drink to get behind the wheel can be a difficult task. Here are some tips as to how to do this:
- If the person is a close friend, try to use a soft, calm approach at first. Suggest that he or she has had too much to drink and it would be better to let someone else drive or to take a cab.
- Be calm. Joke about it. Make light of it.
- Try to make it sound like you are doing that person a favor.
- If the person is somebody you don't know well, speak to his friends and have them make an attempt to persuade him to hand over the keys. Usually, he or she will listen.
- If the person is a good friend, spouse or significant other, tell him that if he insists on driving, you are not going with him. Tell him that you will call someone else for a ride, take a cab or walk.
- Locate the person's keys while he is preoccupied and take them away. Most likely, he will think he's lost his keys and will be forced to find another mode of transportation.
- If possible, avoid embarrassing the person or being confrontational. This makes him or her appear vulnerable to alcohol and its effects.
It’s better to have a tough, uncomfortable conversation than a last conversation.