TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - When out drinking over the holidays, it is important to remember the consequences of drinking and driving, along with how little alcohol it takes to impair your ability to drive.
"Buzzed driving is drunk driving," say campaigns from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
You may think you are safe to drive as long as your blood alcohol content is below .08, but that is wrong.
"Even if you don't get over the legal limit which is .08 that doesn't mean you're not impaired and you can still get arrested," said Sgt. Costaki Manoleas with the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
Law enforcement can still arrest you if you are "impaired to the slightest degree" a misdemeanor charge. To do that, they just have to prove alcohol or something else affected you in some way if you are driving.
"That's generally some jail time and lots of fines," said Sgt. Costaki.
When all is said and done, a DUI conviction can end up costing tens of thousands of dollars in fees. Lawyer, Michael Piccarreta, says the cheap, safe option is to take a cab.
"Take an Uber, take a cab. It's much wiser to spend a few dollars and a little inconvenience than run the risk of spending thousands of dollars in a jail or prison cell," he said.
