Many good reasons not to drink and then drive

Page 13

There's no shortabe of reasons why driving after you've had a few drinks is a bad idea. The main one, of course, is that any time you drive when your ability to do so is impaired, you're risking your own life and the lives of others.

There are also serious legal implications if you get caught drinking and driving.

In Saskatchewan, if you are found to be driving with a blood alcohol content of .04 and it is your first offence, you will automatically lose your licence for 24 hours. If it's not your first offence, you may have to complete a Driving Without Impairment course on top of your suspension.

If you are pulled over on the suspicion that you are impaired and you refuse to take a breathalyser test, or are convicted of having a blood alcohol content of .08, you will receive an automatic licence suspension of 90 days, and if convicted could lose your licence for anywhere from one to five years.

Once convicted of impaired driving, you would have to attend an addictions screening, and then either attend a Driving Without Impairment course or enter into an alcohol and drug recovery program before your licence is reinstated. You will not get your licence back until the required program is completed, even once your period of suspension has ended.

Add on the fact that if you are driving impaired and are in a collision your insurance won't cover any damage to vehicles or property-those costs would have to be covered by you, out of your own pocket.

The safest thing is not to drink if you're driving. And if you plan to drink, make arrangements ahead of time for how you will get home. Have a designated driver-many establishments in Saskatchewan are part of the Have Someone for the Road program, designed to give businesses that serve alcohol an opportunity to help reduce the problem of drinking and driving by providing complimentary non-alcoholic beverages to designated drivers. Call a cab. Or if you're at a private home and plan to drink, also plan on spending the night.