New Year’s Eve can be a scary time for everyone. The fact that this year it falls on a Saturday night, and, as a Miami-Dade County drunk driver accident lawyer, I am very worried. A friend of mine is a doctor who does kidney biopsies for transplants. She recently told me that she is working this New Year’s Eve because Jackson Memorial Hospital is expecting to need her on site for the anticipated number of patients needing emergency treatment following car, motorcycle and truck crashes
I have been a car crash lawyer in South Florida for over twenty years, and I know that most New Year’s Eve car wrecks involve the use or misuse of alcohol and drugs. New Year’s Eve is also the deadliest day of the year for pedestrians. Some are hit by drunk drivers; others simply fall down drunk and sustain head injuries. According to experts drunk walking is eight times more dangerous than every mile driven drunk. Shockingly, that means if you have to walk from a party to your home drunk, it is literally eight times more likely that you will die than if you had gotten behind the wheel of a car.
Our Monroe County Florida hit and run car wreck law firm recommends that this New Year’s Eve our clients should avoid drinking altogether. But if they must revel make sure there is a designated driver who pledges to not drink at all.
There are a number of creative options besides calling a taxi or your mother to transport you home in most cities, including volunteers that provide the service for free. But if you are unable for any reason to obtain transportation home, simply call 911 and let them know your situation. It is far better than having them show up after an accident when it might be too late to save you or someone else. Miami has a number of free shuttle services available for South Beach party goers.
The National Institute of Health has a handy cocktail content calculator on its website to help figure out what the alcohol content is for mixed drinks. Depending on the recipe you can have one or two standard-sized drinks in a cocktail. The website contains some of the most common recipes used by bartenders today. It is important to note that all bars and restaurants are different in terms of their recipes and portions.
Unfortunately, Miami suffers from another New Year’s Eve annual nightmare in the form of gunfire. For some reason, Miami-Dade residents are fond of discharging their firearms into the air on New Year’s Eve. Miami Mayor, Tomas Regalado, and Police Chief, Manuel Orosa, have endorsed a “One Bullet Kills the Party” campaign to discourage Miamians from continuing this lethal tradition. It is both illegal and dangerous to discharge a weapon for a celebration.
Our Miami PI attorneys and staff wish you and your family a Safe and Happy New Year and we hope that you will decide to just stay home this year and watch Ryan Seacrest on television.
Miami-Dade Country Transit’s free shuttle service: Passengers of the South Beach Local Shuttle can ride for FREE during New Year’s Eve festivities from 8 a.m. Saturday, December 31, 2011 until 1 a.m. New Year’s Day on Sunday, January 1, 2012. The regular fare of $0.25 will resume at 10 a.m. on New Year’s Day Sunday, January 1, 2012.
