Walking Home After Drinking: Is It Safe? 

Car Thief
Car Thief

After partying with your friends and drinking to excess, you may decide that the safest way to get home is to walk. While this will certainly keep you from getting into an accident behind the wheel, it may not be as safe as you think. 

Across the country, people who have decided to walk home after drinking have run into several different issues. Here are some reasons why walking home after drinking isn’t the safest choice. 

You’re Drunk in Public 

In many places, just being drunk in public could lead to an arrest [source]. This seems like a necessary step if a person is being unruly and putting others in danger. However, police officers can use their discretion, and even if you are just walking home, if they smell alcohol, this could give them cause to arrest you.  

It doesn’t matter how close you are to home and if you are trying to do the right thing, the police officer has the final say in whether or not you are arrested for being drunk in public.  

Mental Capacities Are Dulled 

Consuming too much alcohol impacts your entire body, and it can dull your mental capacities, making it hard to think and focus. If you are trying to walk home, so many things could go wrong. 

Alcohol dulls your senses so that you can’t feel the temperature as well as if you were sober. If it happens to be cold outside, you may not realize how cold, and succumb to hypothermia. 

Since your focus and eyesight are also impacted, you may not be able to see clearly to walk home. There have been news reports of drunk individuals walking into the wrong house. In some cases, this just results in an arrest, but in others, people have been killed. 

Increased Risk of a Pedestrian Accident 

With alcohol in your system, your mental and physical functions slow down. Not only is it easier to get lost, but your reaction time is impaired as well. There may not be a lot of traffic late at night while you’re walking home, but if you encounter a vehicle on the road, you probably won’t be able to get out of the way fast enough. 

There’s also a risk that the person behind the wheel has been drinking as well. Having two people under the influence of alcohol is a recipe for serious injury or potentially even death. 

If you have been injured in an accident while walking home after drinking, then talking to a pedestrian accident lawyer is in your best interest. You were doing what was necessary to stay safe, and you may be entitled to compensation. 

You Could Become a Target 

When you are drunk, you become defenseless, and there are people in this world who will take advantage of that. By deciding to walk home, you could open yourself up to being mugged on the street or becoming the victim of worse crimes [source]. 

 Better Options 

Making the decision to walk home after a night of drinking seems like a good option to keep yourself and others safe. After all, we all know the dangers of drunk driving. However, it may not be the best choice. There are many things that could go wrong with this decision, and you may still wind up getting arrested or injured during the process. 

There are better options to consider, including calling for a cab or rideshare or finding a sober friend to take you home. If none of those work, then you might consider booking a hotel room for the night and making your way home the next day.  

Keeping yourself safe after a night of drinking is imperative, and having a plan in place could potentially save your life.