As we all prepare to celebrate it is important to remember that St. Patrick’s Day is one of the most dangerous times to be on the road, especially late at night. In fact, getting into a Connecticut auto accident on St. Patrick’s Day would be a horrible way to celebrate the holiday. It is imperative that you think about what steps you will take while driving on the road late while others are potentially tired or intoxicated.
If you’re headed out to celebrate with friends or family, it will require a little planning ahead to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. Take some time now, a few days before the holiday happens to think about how you want to spend the evening and what that means for getting home safely. Your plans should include thinking about how you will get to and from your destination, whether or not you feel comfortable driving late at night after the clock hits midnight, and if you should just stay overnight where you are and put off your trip home until the next morning. These are all things you can think about now so you can have a great time without any stress on that night.
Once you’ve made these decisions, some of the other steps you can take to avoid an accident are made a little bit easier. For instance, if you’ve decided to stay overnight where you’re going to be for St. Patrick’s Day, then you won’t have to worry about who is going to drive and what time you are going to leave that night. This will give you peace of mind as you decide to celebrate safely. Whether you’ve made plans ahead or not, you may need to make some other decisions that night that will help you avoid getting into an accident. Here are a few things you should keep in mind.
-
Who is going to drive for the evening? It doesn’t matter how long of a drive you have, whether it is right down the street or an hour away from your home you will need to identify someone to drive who is going to take the responsibility seriously and is going to make decisions throughout the night that will result in a safe trip to and from your destination. Your driver should be ok being a designated driver for the evening and certainly should be someone who can be awake and alert late into the night.
-
What time are you planning on leaving your celebration? Are you planning on staying through midnight and into the early morning hours or are you heading out early to beat the traffic on the roads? It’s a good idea to think about this and decide before the time comes so you can be prepared for how to approach the end of the night. This can be especially crucial if you are traveling with a group of people who may have different ideas about when to leave a gathering.
-
Where are you going to be sleeping? If you’ve decided that you are not going to risk heading home the night of St. Patrick’s Day you may need a place to sleep. Will you be staying in a nearby hotel or does the location that you are visiting have accommodations for you to sleep? Either way, you will need to keep these things in mind before you leave for the night so you don’t have to make these difficult decisions when you’ve had a long night of festivities.
There are a lot of good things that happen on St. Patrick’s Day, but there are also some things that could very easily lead you to a Connecticut auto accident, so you need to be prepared before you head out for the evening. If you have a plan and answers to some of these questions you will be ready to celebrate without a lot of the stress that comes with traveling to and from your destination.
However you decide to celebrate the holiday and wherever you end up on St. Patrick’s Day, you should know that all of us here at Leighton, Katz & Drapaeu, L.L.C. wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday.
