Finding out that your college-age child or other relative was arrested on suspicion of DUI after your Thanksgiving celebration is a sure way to ruin your holidays. But did you know you could potentially also face criminal charges? Under Oklahoma’s dram shop law statute, it is against the law to provide alcohol to someone who is obviously intoxicated. The law is usually enforced against bars and restaurants, but it can apply to party hosts too.
Four ways to prevent a DUI arrest over the holidays
To avoid legal problems for yourself and your loved ones this holiday season, here are four tips to help ensure that nobody gets a DUI charge after an upcoming family dinner or party.
- When you have a relative or friend with a history of DUIs coming to your party, consider not serving alcohol. Or talk with them beforehand to see if they have a plan for a sober ride home.
- If someone who is clearly impaired wants to drive, subtly take them aside. Using a calm, quiet tone, offer to call them a cab or rideshare, or to have a sober person at the party take them home. Remember that they are not thinking clearly right now. A confrontation that causes a scene might make them defensive or upset and backfire.
- If possible, wait until the drunk person is distracted and take their car keys.
- If the person is being aggressive and you can’t get their keys, you might have to get physical. You or someone strong enough can restrain the person until someone gets ahold of the keys.
Hopefully, nobody you love will spend any part of the holiday season in jail. But if your son or daughter gets arrested for DUI, they will need help confronting the charges to minimize the impact on their lives.