St. Patrick’s Day Safety Tips

While in the U.S. St. Patrick’s Day is mostly a day to celebrate Irishness and drink green beer, and a great deal of drinking does take place, it doesn’t make the top five the worst driving periods of the year (they are Memorial Day Weekend, the start of Daylight Saving Time, Black Friday, NFL game days, and Friday the 13th), or even drunk driving deaths.

Even so, if you’re going out for St. Paddy’s Day festivities, it’s best to be prepared for the drunken exuberance of others and yourself. Here are some tips:

• If you drink, don’t drive. Everybody has a different capacity for drink, and whether or not you feel drunk is not an accurate test. Drunks drive faster and take more chances than the sober. Play it safe. Call a taxi, download the Uber or Lyft app to your phone ahead of time, or include a teetotal designated driver in your entourage.
• Even if you don’t need to drive, and are a college student celebrating within walking distance of their college dorm or apartment, for example, don’t binge drink. Shayna Ginster of Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York writes that “According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, more than 1,800 college students die a year from drunk driving and binge drinking.” Don’t be a statistic.
• If you encounter any excessively rowdy drunks, don’t confront them yourself. TV station WTOC in Savannah, Georgia quotes Sergeant Shinita Young of the Savannah Police Department: “Just let an officer know. There’s going to be plenty of officers out.”
• When attending parades or other crowd-control situations, “Stay behind the barricades and don’t get too close to the floats and attractions,” says Russ Riesinger of WTOC.
• Be aware of your surroundings and those around you. Report suspicious activity to the police.
• Don’t leave your drink unattended, warns the University of Michigan’s dean. However small the risk, someone could put something in your drink like GHB or Rohypnol (“roofies”).
• Make sure you eat throughout the day and stay hydrated. Aim for alternating an alcoholic drink with at least one nonalcoholic drink or a glass of water.
• Don’t leave your valuables unattended. Better yet, leave as many of them at home as you can.
• If you plan on having a really good time, Indiana Department of Transportation suggests, maybe you can arrange to spend the night near the venue — a friend’s home, a motel room.
• And whether you’ve been drinking or not, buckle up. “Always wear your seat belt,” says the Indiana Department of Transportation, “it’s the best defense against an impaired driver.”