Drink driving doesn’t just happen after a few drinks. It happens much earlier, with the decisions you make before you even arrive.
Where you drive. How you get there. Who you go with. Whether you tell yourself you’ll “just see how the night goes”. These choices might feel small at the time, but they’re visible to everyone around you, and they can quietly make drink driving the only option left.
Most people don’t plan to drink drive. But many find themselves caught out in social situations where the easy, familiar choice is to get behind the wheel.
Your friends, family and colleagues can often see it coming well before you do. The risk is clear long before the keys are in your hand.
Avoiding drink driving isn’t about luck or good intentions. It’s about recognising the decisions that lead there and choosing differently.
Drink driving is never an accident. You know what you’re doing. And often, you know it well before it happens.
Choosing to drive to the venue. Choosing not to organise a lift. Choosing not to set a limit or a way home. Each decision narrows your options.
Being honest with yourself about these moments can stop drink driving before it starts.
When you risk drink driving, you risk far more than a fine or losing your licence.
You risk:
These are risks your loved ones carry too, whether they’ve agreed to it or not.
The safest decision is the one made early:
Small choices made early remove the pressure later.
If you’re driving yourself to drink, ask the honest question before you leave:
Are you honestly thinking of risking it?
Because when you change the decisions you make early, drink driving never becomes an option.
