How to Prevent your Children from Driving Under the Influence

As a parent, the last thing you want to happen is for your child to get in trouble with the law or to get injured or worse, but the unfortunate reality is that many will make poor decisions that have these disastrous results. Driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol is an unfortunately significant problem that will impact many young drivers and their families. As a parent, there are a few steps that you can take that will decrease the likelihood that your child's life will be impacted by a DUI charge or worse.

Be a Good Influence
One of the best steps that you can take as a parent is to be a good influence. Children often learn behaviors related to drinking as well as to drinking and driving by watching their parents. They may see their parents have a few drinks at a party or get-together and then drive home, and they may think that they can do the same. The danger is that their bodies often have little tolerance for alcohol, and the dangers may be far more significant. As a parent, always establish a designated driver or make an effort to drink water or coffee and to wait an hour or two before heading home if necessary.

Set Up a Safe Ride Home
According to Atlanta lawyers at the Law Offices of Thomas, Webb, and Willis, the last thing you may want to do is to call for help with your child's DUI case, and you can avoid this by helping your child to set up safe rides home. Uber, Lyft and other related services are wonderful in times such as these, and you can set up these apps on your child's phone with a link to your credit card so that he or she always has a safe ride home and always has the means to pay for it. This eliminates the need for or reliance on a designated driver and gives your child a foolproof fallback plan.

Be Non-Judgmental
In the event your child does use Uber or Lyft to get home or if he or she calls you for a ride, be non-judgmental. There may be a time and a place for your child to receive a lecture about underage drinking or about drug use, but the most important thing is for him or her to feel comfortable calling you for help in a time of need. This is a much better solution to the issue than having to risk a DUI, personal injury or worse.

A DUI charge is not something that you want your teen driver to deal with, and there are steps that you can take to minimize the risk of your child making a poor decision. Talk to your child about DUI charges and consequences, and set up a fallback plan so that they never have to feel forced to make a poor decision.