How to stay safe over New Year

It’s 2am. The New Year's Eve party has just finished. You had a great time, but now it’s freezing cold and your feet are killing you. All you can think of is being home in bed and there’s not a taxi in sight. You’d call one but your mobile’s dead and your friend left a couple of hours ago with her boyfriend...

Leaving things to chance, like getting home safely, can ruin a good night out and put you at serious risk. There are some simple things you can do to ensure you stay safe and make the most of your New Year celebrations.

Avoid rounds

If you are planning on having a festive tipple one of the best ways to look after yourself, and make sure your night is mishap free, is to stay in control of your drinking.

First of all, set yourself an upper limit and make a clear decision to stick to it.

Avoiding drinking in rounds is one way to do this. They put you under pressure to keep up with the fastest drinker. You’ll end up drinking – and spending – more. Remember, it’s up to you what you drink, not anyone else.

This is particularly important for women. Women’s bodies can’t process alcohol as well as men’s. They have less body water than men of the same weight, so they end up with a higher percentage of alcohol in their blood after drinking the same amount. Brian Hayes a paramedic on London’s ‘Booze Bus’, an ambulance for people who have drunk too much, says that nearly two thirds (60%) of his patients are women.

Merry misdemeanours

The biggest drinking ‘crimes’ for anyone, according to Brian, are forgoing food and drinking too much, too quickly. “Drinking on an empty stomach is the big mistake people make,” says Brian. “We see too many people that have gone out drinking straight from work without eating.”

Drinking on an empty stomach heightens the effects of alcohol because the levels of alcohol in the blood tend to go up more quickly. If you haven’t been able to eat before you go out, buy some food on the way, or better still get some friends or colleagues together and go for a meal.

“Drinking games are a bad idea too,” says Brian. “And shots can spell disaster.”

Know your limits

If you choose to drink alcohol as part of your festive celebrations, Brian advises sticking to long drinks like a beer, or a single shot of spirits with a mixer. He also stresses the importance of keeping track of how much you are drinking. In its daily unit guidelines, the government advises that women should not regularly exceed 2-3 units daily (equivalent to a 175ml glass of 13% wine) and that men should not regularly exceed 3-4 units daily (equivalent to a pint and a half of 4% beer). To help you keep within these guidelines, drink smaller drinks – 125ml glasses of wine or half pints – and weaker lagers and wines. Incorporate more mixers and strategic soft drinks.

If you’re out several nights of the week in the lead up to New Year, sticking within the guidelines is more important than ever. “If you’re at a work party on a Thursday and then out again on a Friday night, your body will be working hard to get rid of the alcohol,” says Brian. “On the Friday night you might feel fine, but your body will react differently to the alcohol. You could be even more susceptible to it because your body will only just have recovered from the last session.”

Staying safe

Most nights out will go by with nothing more serious than a spilt drink or a lost cloakroom ticket.  But it’s easy to forget that alcohol affects our power of reasoning and ability to make decisions. It slows down our reactions, upsets our sense of balance and coordination and makes us lose concentration (1). People who have been drinking are more likely to take risks, so if you’re out on the streets under the influence you’re at greater risk of accidents and dangerous situations – such as physical or sexual assault.

Jenny Fawson, Director of Personal Safety at the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, stresses how important it is to be aware that alcohol can seriously affect your ability to make safe judgements. “You don’t have to be drunk for this to happen,” she says. “Even a couple of drinks can make you take risks that you would not otherwise have taken.”

Planning ahead

This is why it is so important to plan ahead. Apart from deciding your drink limit for the evening , one of the main decisions you should make before you go out is how you are going to get home safely. “The sooner you become aware of potential danger, the easier it is to avoid it,” says Jenny Fawson. “The majority of crimes are opportunistic and most criminals will pick on easy targets – and there is no easier target than someone who is drunk and incapable of looking after themselves.”

Tips on travelling safely after a night out

• Book a taxi before you go out. And take their contact number with you. You can always rearrange the time you want to be picked up.
• Make sure you have minicab numbers in your phone (or details of the nearest taxi rank) and enough money to pay for our journey.
• Use a firm that will text you the number plate of the car that’s coming to get you. This avoids any confusion of what car to get into.
• Do not be tempted, under any circumstances, to take an unlicensed minicab. All minicabs must be pre-booked. Only licensed taxis can pull up at the kerb – any minicabs that do this are acting illegally.
• Make sure your phone is charged before you go out.
• Keep some money separate to your purse – in your coat or pocket.
• Stick with your friends. Don’t wander off on your own at the end of the night, and wherever possible, go home together.
• If you’re travelling home by public transport, find out the times of the buses/trains so you’re not waiting about too long at the station/bus stop or miss the last one altogether.
• Avoid empty carriages or top decks of buses. Sit near the driver.
• Stay alert and don’t fall asleep – this will be easier if you’re not drunk.

(1) C Cherpitel, “Alcohol, Injury, and Risk-Taking Behavior: Data from a National Sample”, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 17 (4): 762-766

Page last updated by

Matthew Bateman, 05 Dec 2011.

Page checked on

11 Dec 2009