applying your smart driving skills you to do the safe thing because they care about you are  giving positive peer pressure. On the other hand, friends or  acquaintances who encourage you to do something dangerous  are putting negative pressure on you.  Learning how to handle peer pressure takes a lot of practice.  You want to keep your friends, but you don’t want to get talked  into doing things that put yourself and others in danger. Try using these four steps to help you resist negative peer  pressure:  You’re driving home at night with a load of passengers.  They’re all having a good time, telling jokes and fooling  around. The light rain is making it hard to see. There’s a lot  of reflection on the road. You need to concentrate, but you are finding it hard to think with all the noise  around you.  What should you do?  When you drive, you are responsible for the safety of your  passengers. Sometimes you will find that passengers can be  distracting. Children often become bored with long drives and  demand attention from you. Passengers may start talking loudly,  teasing or wrestling in the car. This is a time when you will have  to show leadership and maintain control. 108 Unsafe passengers You in the driver’s seat Strategies: handling negative peer pressure 1.  Identify the problem.  You may impress your new  friend if you drink, but you aren’t fulfilling your promise  of staying sober and being the designated driver.  2.  Think about the consequences.  If you choose to have  a drink so you don’t upset your friend, you increase  the risk of being involved in a crash when you get  behind the wheel. You could hurt or even kill yourself  or someone else.  3.  Identify alternatives.  Suggest to your friend that  you’ll have a drink with him another time when you  don’t have to drive.  4.  Follow through.  Stay sober, and when you are ready  to leave, offer your friends a ride.