You can prevent a DUI by taking the car keys away from a friend, family member, or someone who appears to be under the influence of alcohol. Follow these key collecting tips provided by the U.S Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
GET THE KEYS: How You Can Intervene
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Advertising Council’s Innocent Victims public service campaign emphasizes the need to intervene and get the keys away from someone about to drive drunk. Here are some helpful tips and advice from focus group research on how people can get the keys away from a drunk driver.
- If it is a close friend, try and use a soft, calm approach at first. Suggest to them that they’ve had too much to drink and it would be better if someone else drove or if they took a cab.
- Be calm. Joke about it. Make light of it.
- Try to make it sound like you are doing them a favor.
- If it is somebody you don’t know well, speak to their friends and have them make an attempt to persuade them to hand over the keys. Usually they will listen.
- If it’s a good friend, spouse, or significant other, tell them that if they insist on driving, you are not going with them. Suggest that you will call someone else for a ride, take a cab, or walk.
- Locate their keys while they are preoccupied and take them away. Most likely, they will think they’ve lost them and will be forced to find another mode of transportation.
- If possible, avoid embarrassing the person or being confrontational, particularly when dealing with men. This makes them appear vulnerable to alcohol and its effects.
If you have any questions about how to prevent a DUI or if you have recently been charged with a DUI, call David O Defense, 206-459-6392. Our DUI lawyers are here to help!
These are some great tips, and I appreciate your advice to start trying to prevent a friend from drunk driving by calmly talking to them. My friends throw big parties pretty often, and there is almost always alcohol involved. One of my buddies got a DUI recently afterward, and I want to try and prevent that in the future. I’ll definitely try to calmly persuade them first, then be a bit more firm if they persist. Thanks for the great post!
Last weekend, I went to a party with my best friend and there was alcohol. I don’t drink, but my friend does and so he drank a lot. I was really nervous about getting in the car with him driving and I also didn’t want him to get a DUI. I made sure to be calm when I asked him for his keys. He resisted only a little, but gave up the keys when he realized that he was starting to make a show and didn’t want to be embarrassed. However, I think that next time I will just take his keys when he’s preoccupied, but do you think that I could get in any type of legal trouble for doing that?
Great question! No you would not get in legal trouble if you took your friend’s car keys if he was under the influence of alcohol, the reason is a matter of public safety. Taking his keys is the responsible thing to do to keep your friend safe and everyone else safe. Of course you would need to return his keys once he was completely sober:)
Thank you! That is such a good thing to know!
As a friend, it is important to make sure that your friends don’t drive drunk. Another way you could get the keys is by asking them to share a cab with you. Even if you haven’t had a ton to drink you could get a DUI. Then you would be killing to birds with one stone. If you or your friend does happen to get a DUI it might be a good idea to talk to an attorney about your options.
My boyfriend struggles with this addiction and often insists on driving. I found your post very interesting and a wonderful way to approach the matter. “Be calm. Joke about it. Make light of it.” was the line that stood out to me the most. I will definitely be using these tips. Thank you so much for sharing!
I think when it comes to close friends, it harder to try and be that guy that says they shouldn’t do something. No one wants to ruin their friendships. I think it’s necessary in this situation though. I liked the idea to joke about it and make it light. That always seems to make any situation easier. Thanks for the tips.