After a night out, fatigue, conversation with companions, and moving between venues make it easy to decide how to get home on the spot. Especially if you drove there, the thought that you need to take the parked car home right away can push you toward a choice different from your original plan. That is why, before the gathering, you need to decide not only how you will get home but also what you will switch to if the first plan does not work.
A personal breathalyzer is a device that checks an alcohol-related reading when you blow into it. The test result can be reference information for reflecting on your condition, but it is not a reason to switch your way home to driving yourself. The two methods in this article are not a procedure for re-deciding whether to drive based on a reading. They are a main plan and a backup plan for getting home safely on a night when you may drink.
First, decide whether to take the car
The simplest plan for getting home starts with choosing not to bring a car to the gathering. If you may drink, you can make a method that keeps you out of the driver's seat your main plan, such as public transit, going with someone, or a ride-hailing service. If your schedule really requires the car, it is better to think through separately, before the gathering, where you will leave the car and when on another day you will pick it up.
Here, the main plan is the method you carry out first. The backup plan is the method you switch to right away if the main plan does not actually work. Saying "I'll see how things go" alone makes it hard to deal with problems that come up on the spot, such as a late hour, a low phone battery, or your group suddenly moving on.
Make the main and backup plans fail for different reasons
It is not enough for the two plans to be the same method under different names. For example, if both plans depend only on a ride-hailing app, both can fail at once when your phone battery is dead or you have no signal. It is more practical to set different requirements for each, such as using a ride-hailing service for one and contacting the person you agreed to go home with for the other.
| What to check | Main plan | Backup plan |
|---|---|---|
| How to travel | Decide the transport you will use and where to board | Choose a means of travel that works differently from the main plan |
| How to contact | Have the app or contact method for booking a ride ready | Decide whom to contact if you cannot use your phone |
| What to do with the car | Think ahead about where to leave the car | Move picking up the car to a schedule on another day |
| Companions | Decide who you will leave with and where to meet | Decide how each person will get home if you get separated |
"Works differently" in the table does not mean a particular service is always available. You need to plan around means you can actually choose for the gathering location and the time you will head home. If you also agree on a pickup point specific enough for everyone to understand, such as a building entrance or the side facing the main road, you reduce the chance of plans falling apart while people look for one another after the gathering ends.
If the venue changes, readjust the plan for getting home
You cannot assume that the pickup point set at the first restaurant still works at the next venue. When the gathering runs long or moves to another place, it is good to briefly re-agree on where you will leave from when heading home, and on whom you will tell, and how, if the main plan does not work. This check is not about making new complicated decisions after drinking. It is about adjusting the two options you already set to fit where you are now.
As a hypothetical example, suppose three people agreed at the first restaurant to take a ride-hailing car together, but later moved to another place and ended up going home separately. The thing to notice is that the original pickup point and shared ride plan no longer fit. Rather than reading this as "we'll figure it out when the time comes," you can treat it as a situation where each person needs to reset their starting point and backup contact method.
A possible action is for each person to confirm out loud one main plan and one backup plan, and, if anyone drove there, to make clear the plan to leave the car behind. The completion standard is that everyone knows their starting point, their first way of getting home, and the next method to use if that one does not work. Bringing the driving option back based on someone's reading or how they feel is not the completion standard.
Testing is not a tool for changing your plan for getting home
If you use a personal breathalyzer, test following the procedure in the product manual, and you can keep the result as a reference for taking a conservative look at your drinking. However, it is safer not to switch the non-driving plan you set in advance to driving yourself just because the number on the screen looks low or you feel fine. The units of the readings, each device's measurement characteristics, and accuracy and maintenance are topics to cover separately under measurement technology and upkeep.
Even if you keep test records in an app, you can be clear about the purpose of those records. For example, you can use them the next day to look back on your drinking habits and whether you stuck to your plan for getting home. When you share records with family or friends, it is best to check that more personal information than needed, such as test time, location, and travel route, is not passed along with them.
After you get home, keep only what you need for next time
After you get home safely, briefly looking back at which method actually worked makes your plan for the next gathering more concrete. For example, if the pickup point you first chose was hard to find, next time you can set a clearer reference, such as a building name or entrance. Conversely, if you never needed the backup plan, that is useful material for checking whether the main plan suited that day's venue and group.
With family or colleagues you meet often, you can set short, workable agreements such as "We leave the car behind when we're drinking" and "If the way home falls through, call first." What matters is not comparing who drank how much or discussing driving in terms of numbers. It is preparing two routes home that do not involve driving, starting before the gathering. With two plans ready, even if something unexpected changes, you will have fewer reasons to fall back on driving on the spot.
※ Self-check results from our products are provided for reference only. Actual enforcement standards and testing methods may differ by agency and equipment, so self-check results may differ from enforcement results, and the company does not accept responsibility for enforcement results.
