The New Year is upon us this weekend here in McHenry County. How do you plan to celebrate? New Year’s parties will abound Saturday night – New Year’s Eve. Good food, good friends, a few good drinks: it all sounds great. And it should be, unless something happens to spoil it.

So, how do you plan to get to the New Year’s Eve party you’re attending? If you’re not driving to a party in McHenry County, who is? In other words, do you have a designated driver? Or, are you the designated driver?

The police are out in force on New Year’s Eve. If you’re unlucky, if you don’t take appropriate precautions, you could find yourself facing a DUI charge. For your first offense, for a DUI in Illinois, you could face 1-year in jail, up to $2,500 in fines and penalties, and you’ll have your license suspended for a minimum of one year. You’ll also need an Interlock Ignition Device in your car when you begin driving again.

What constitutes drunk driving in Illinois? If you’re 21 and over, a .08% blood alcohol level is considered over the legal limit. While driving a commercial vehicle, the limit is .04%. But, if you’re under 21, the legal limit is .00% - zero tolerance.

These are figures that can put a serious damper on a McHenry County New Year’s Eve celebration, if you cross that line – if a police officer wants you to walk a line and you fail.

One ‘little’ mistake can do more than ruin a New Year’s Eve celebration; it can color the entire year ahead. You can come to remember 2017 as the year you lost your license, the year you paid all those fines and penalties, (hopefully not) the year you spent in jail and they year you gave all that additional money to a lawyer and a DUI counselor. But, as bad as that is, it could turn out even worse.

The reason the police and courts come down so hard on people who drive impaired is that, when someone doesn’t have full control of their faculties, their response time is longer. Their decision-making process isn’t up to par. Accidents are more likely. People get hurt. Sometimes, people die.

Just discussing this here tends to serve as a cold blanket on the New Year’s Eve celebration. But, there are alternatives:

• One alternative is to stay home. Of course, that may not fit your ideal of the most exciting way to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
• You could have someone serve as the designated driver. This assumes there’s someone in your group you can trust to stay sober through the night.
• You could hire a cab. But, cabbies will be busy during New Year’s Eve. You and your party may find yourselves waiting for a ride.
• Instead of a cab, you could hire a limousine. Not only will your ride be ready when you are, you’ll also ride in style. In fact, this is one way to really celebrate New Year’s Eve.

“We understand that people call a limousine because they want their night to be special,” said Scott Haukereid, the owner of McHenry Limousine with partner Marty Robb. “Renting a limo alleviates all the worries. You can just party and have a good time. And it’s a lot cheaper than a DUI. They say the minimum for a DUI now is about $10 grand.”

To contact McHenry Limousine and reserve a limo for your New Year’s Eve celebration, call 815-344-4466.