Drinking alcohol and driving can be attributed to a large percentage of road accidents each year in many parts of the world.

A poor choice and a bad judgement may not just affect your life once you get behind the wheel after drinking, but it could affect the lives of others in many ways that you could care to consider.

Frequently, the poor choices made as a result of drink-driving can lead to the devastation of families and communities. Moreover, as you would have thought, very few people set out to drive while impaired by alcohol.

Rather, alcohol impaired driving results from a combination of decisions about drinking and decisions about driving. The sequence of these decisions brings the two acts together in place and time.

One can argue that a decision to drink-drive is not one that is necessarily a result of one single action; it is a series of events greatly influenced by social attitudes towards the practice.

Some members of our society feel that it is perfectly acceptable to go to a bar with friends or colleagues and have one drink and then drive home. After all, in most cases we are talking about responsible adults who can control themselves.

However, the commitment to stick to the principle of consuming one alcoholic drink and then drive home is more often than not a futile one, because soon the jovial fella ends up consuming two, three, or many more units of alcohol.

In addition, although our laws and law enforcement officers can help change social attitudes through education campaigns and punitive measures, the onus is on us individuals to be responsible and change these reckless social attitudes.  

And although last year the Rwanda National Police offered a service of taking home motorists who had had one-too-many drinks, this year, we can all consider measures to reduce the risk of putting ourselves and others in harm’s way.

For instance, if you are going out for a drink, leave your vehicle at home and arrange to use a taxi to and from your night out. And while this proposal may seem obvious, many people tend to ignore it for the temporary convenience of making a quicker outward journey.

But remember that it only takes one or two drinks to push you over the limit. 

Likewise, while I acknowledge the difficulty of changing public attitudes and behaviours with respect to drunk-driving through public education campaigns, such programmes can help build public support for addressing the problem and also help publicise the implications of drunk driving especially for young drivers who are sometimes difficult to persuade.

Such campaigns which can even be extended at the driving school stage are likely to be effective if they address the peer pressure element that most young people encounter in social settings.

For mature drivers, it is simply the question of whether the message can hit home. The campaigns can for instance address the inflated egos of some of our mature drivers who feel that leaving a car home in favour of alternative transportation like a taxi on a night out drinking somehow lowers one’s social standing in society.  

To conclude, it is true that some accidents are unavoidable, which is why they are called accidents. But, some accidents caused by carelessness, drunk-driving, and over speeding should not be excusable.

In 2014, the Rwanda National Police reported that at least four accidents registered daily one person dies.

Therefore, what we should strive to do before, during, and after the festive season is to try and remember the risks involved when one is drunk and reckless behind the wheel.

Drunk-driving does not just impair your ability to drive; it can lead to a fatal accident that is entirely avoidable.

Let us all try and enjoy a happy Christmas and usher in the New Year with renewed socially responsible attitudes.

Email: junior.mutabazi@yahoo.co.uk