Oklahoma City loves its sporting events. Thunder, Energy and Dodgers games reliably draw fans who love the spectacle of sports and the opportunity to relieve a little stress in the form of alcoholic beverages.
Unfortunately, the length of some sporting events, and their pre-game social rituals, can add up to four or more hours of drinking when it comes time to head home. Though Oklahoma’s drunk driving-related fatalities dropped an impressive 33% from 2010 to 2019, drunk driving after sporting events is a persistent problem in OKC.
Here are a few ways to avoid becoming a statistic.
Public transport
The downtown streetcars won’t get you very far, but hopefully they can get you closer to a helpful bus line or at least far enough away from the crowds to order a rideshare car.
Depending on your level of intoxication, you should probably avoid the Ride OKC bikes and Lime scooters. Even minor accidents on two-wheeled transport can end in serious injuries.
Rideshare apps and taxis
If you’re alone and depending on how far you’re going, this can be a little expensive, but again it’s far less costly than a DUI arrest or accident. Ideally, you will have one or two friends to split the cost.
Designated driver
A designated driver is the drunk driving solution almost as old as driving itself. If you’re fortunate enough to have a teetotaler in your game-day squad, sweeten the designated driver arrangement by buying them food or all their nonalcoholic drinks.
An alternative is to find a friend or family member who didn’t attend the game but can pick you up afterward. Again, you will probably want to walk a few blocks away from the worst of the crowds, so they aren’t sitting in traffic for an hour just to reach you.
What to do when the designated driver goes rogue
We’ve all been there. The designated driver swears they’ll only have one drink and they’re a mess two hours later. Leaving someone’s car behind is inconvenient, but not nearly as inconvenient as a DUI or accident with injuries.
Choose the best of the alternative transportation options above.
Walk
If you can walk home in less than an hour, why not go for it? By the time you wait for a rideshare to fight their way to your location, then drive you home, you probably could have gotten there faster on foot.
Walking will also help you sober up so you don’t fall asleep on the couch as soon as you get home.