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Idaho Transportation
Department
Public Affairs Office
P.O. Box 7129
Boise, ID 83707
208.334.8005
Fax: 208.334.8563
Email


Planning to party? Keep it safe

When throwing a holiday party and alcohol is served, ITD’s Office of Highway Operations and Safety offers a few tips to help keep the holiday safe for guests:

  • When guests arrive, collect their car keys. Know who is driving.
  • Always serve protein-rich and starchy foods throughout the evening. These foods help retard the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream and help divert attention from the alcoholic drinks.
  • Don’t let guests mix their own drinks. Choose a reliable “bartender” to help keep track of the size and number of drinks a guest consumes.
  • Make food and non-alcoholic drinks self-serve and easily available to encourage consumption.
  • Stop serving alcohol about two hours before the party is over.
  • Serve coffee or non-alcoholic beverages along with food.
  • The best thing a host can do is to have someone who has not been drinking serve as a designated driver and transport drinking guests home. Call a cab or insist that any person who has consumed too much alcohol to sleep overnight.
  • Consider giving a small gift to all designated drivers at the party.
  • Encourage all guests to wear seat belts as they drive home. The best defense against an alcohol-impaired driver is to buckle up.

Only time will sober up someone who has had too much to drink. It takes about one hour for an average mixed drink, glass of wine or bottle of beer to be “burned off” by the liver. Coffee, cold showers, and other home remedies do not affect the blood alcohol level or improve motor skills and reaction time.

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Published 12-8-06