New Year's Eve Safety Tips You Can Practice

New Year’s Eve is a night for celebrating with friends and family as another year approaches. You should have fun but be proactive about safety measures to prevent injuries. Below are tips you should follow to stay safe on New Year’s Eve.

Follow COVID-19 Protocols

Although the worst of the pandemic seems to be in the past, continuing to follow COVID-19 protocols is necessary, especially during the holidays. Groups of people get together in public and private places to ring in the new year. Maintaining a safe distance might not be possible.

Consider getting fully vaccinated, including boosters, if you haven’t already. Wear a mask in crowded areas to protect yourself from the possible transmission of the virus.

If you test positive for COVID-19 or feel sick, you should stay home.

Avoid Drinking and Driving

Dinners, parties, and other events often end with impaired people driving home. Many people travel on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day to visit family and friends. More traffic and impaired drivers on roadways increase the risk of a crash.

Plan for a safe ride at the end of the night if you’re going to drink. Select a designated driver to attend the event with you, or ask a sober friend to pick you up when you’re ready to leave. You can also schedule a car or limo service in advance to get to and from your destination. If you can’t find someone to drive you home, request an Uber or Lyft.

Public transportation might be available depending on where you are. Take a taxi, the subway, a bus, or a train.

You might be unfamiliar with the area you’re visiting and feel uncomfortable depending on a rideshare driver or public transportation. Instead, ask the host if you can sleep over, so you don’t have to go anywhere when the celebration ends. You can also book a room if you’re attending a party at a hotel.

Be Careful on New Year’s Day

You might feel recovered enough to drive or walk home after a good night’s sleep. However, many people still have alcohol in their system on New Year’s Day. You should avoid driving after a night of New Year’s festivities, especially if you drank.

Accidents commonly occur because drivers don’t realize how impaired they are and get behind the wheel of their vehicles. They have trouble following traffic signs and maneuvering around other cars. Intoxicated pedestrians might get hit while crossing the street or walking on the road instead of the sidewalk.

Be a Responsible Host

Hosting is an excellent way to avoid the busy streets on New Year’s Eve. However, hosting a party requires providing a safe place for your guests. To prevent avoidable accidents and injuries, follow these tips:

• Confirm all smoke alarms work
• Schedule rides for your guests with a rideshare service or a local taxi company
• Ask a trusted guest to stay sober and drive people home if necessary
• Avoid serving alcohol to minors and offer non-alcoholic beverage options instead
• Have a phone handy to contact emergency services if an accident occurs
• Provide your guests with food and snacks, so no one drinks on an empty stomach
• Fill a cooler with plenty of water to keep everyone hydrated
• Offer a guest room or your couch for anyone too drunk to make it home safely

Set a Curfew for Your Kids

You can enjoy celebrating with your small children but ensure they go to bed at a reasonable time. Set a curfew if you have kids old enough to drive or spend time with their friends on New Year’s Eve. Teenagers don’t have the necessary experience and skills to respond to dangerous situations appropriately. They should avoid driving late at night.

Open Champagne Carefully

Champagne is a popular drink on New Year’s Eve. Many people like toasting the new year with a glass of bubbly. Although you might get some satisfaction from popping a bottle, be careful where you point the cork.

Hold the bottle at an angle and point it away from others. You should keep your hand on the cork as you pull it out of the bottle to prevent it from flying toward someone’s face.

Leave the Fireworks to the Professionals

You can legally purchase certain types of fireworks in New York, such as party poppers, ground-based fireworks emitting showers of sparks, and handheld wood sparklers.

Other fireworks are illegal for personal use in New York, including:

• Aerial consumer fireworks
• Skyrockets
• Bombs
• Roman candles
• Metal wire sparklers
• Firecrackers and chasers

Let the professionals do the dangerous work this New Year’s Eve if you want to see a fireworks display. However, if you can’t resist setting off fireworks in your backyard, plan ahead and practice good judgment while lighting them.

Have a bucket of water, garden hose, or fire extinguisher ready to quickly extinguish fires from sparks. Set up the fireworks to point away from your audience, home, and trees. Light each firework one at a time and back up while it ignites. Standing too close can lead to burns and other injuries.

You should never re-light a firework if it doesn’t go off the first time. Instead, douse it with water and discard it.

Watch Your Step

The winter season brings adverse weather. Pay attention to where you walk while outside. Ice, sleet, snow, and rain can make surfaces slippery. Even if you don’t leave your home or go outside during a party, watch for wet spots from people tracking snow inside. You might slip and twist your ankle or fall down the stairs if you’re not careful.

Injured in an Accident? Contact Us Today

You can find a way to have a good time and stay safe on New Year’s Eve. Nothing ruins a celebration more than ending up in the emergency room. You could avoid getting hurt during this year’s festivities by taking the necessary precautions.

Finz & Finz, P.C. has a team of nationally-recognized Manhattan personal injury lawyers. We have over 35 years of experience handling car accidents, premises liability, wrongful death, and other personal injury cases.

Call us at (855) TOP-FIRM for your free consultation today if you sustained injuries due to someone else’s wrongdoing. We can help you hold the at-fault party liable and pursue the compensation you deserve.