How to Stay Safe on a Night Out: A Practical Guide for Young Adults

Planning Before You Go

The decisions that most affect safety on a night out are made before you leave the house, not in the middle of it. This sounds obvious but it is consistently underestimated. Most safety problems on nights out arise from improvising when tired, drunk, separated from friends, or in an unfamiliar place. Planning removes many of these variables.

Sort your transport home before you go. This means booking a cab, confirming who is driving, or agreeing a taxi-sharing arrangement. Trying to find transport at 2am in an unfamiliar area, possibly after drinking, with a phone at 4% battery, is where many problems start. If you are using a taxi app, set up the app and have your payment method saved before you go out.

Charge your phone fully. This is so basic that it is easily overlooked and so important that it is worth stating plainly. A dead phone is a significant safety vulnerability.

Tell someone who is not going out with you where you are going and a rough time you expect to be home. This does not need to be elaborate. A quick text to a parent, housemate, or friend gives someone the ability to raise the alarm if something goes wrong.

The Buddy System: How to Actually Use It

"Look out for each other" is advice so general as to be almost useless. The specific version is more useful. Agree before you go out that you will check in with each other periodically, that no one leaves alone, and that if anyone is separating from the group they will tell the others where they are going and who they are with.

If someone in your group wants to leave with a person you have just met, this is the moment for the buddy system to be activated. You do not need to refuse or to accompany them. You do need to know who they are with, where they are going, and to get a message from them when they arrive safely. If you do not get that message, contact them.

The most common context in which a buddy system fails is when the group gradually separates and no one is quite sure who has gone where. Designate a meeting point and a time to check in, especially in large venues or at events where losing each other is easy.

Drink Safety

Never leave your drink unattended. This applies whether you are drinking alcohol or not. Drink spiking is real and it happens quickly: a substance can be added to a drink in seconds. If you put your drink down, leave it. If someone else hands you a drink you did not watch being poured, be cautious about drinking it.

Know the signs of drink spiking: sudden, disproportionate intoxication relative to how much you have drunk, dizziness, confusion, nausea, or memory gaps. These can begin within 15-30 minutes of ingestion. If you feel significantly more affected than you should be, tell a friend immediately and remove yourself from the situation. Ask bar staff for help. Call a trusted person to come and get you.

If a friend seems significantly more affected than expected, stay with them. Do not leave them alone. If they are unconscious or semi-conscious, call 999. Putting someone in a taxi alone when they cannot look after themselves is not getting them home safely: it is leaving them alone and vulnerable at a time when they need supervision.

Getting Home Safely

Walk with other people where possible, or take a taxi. If you use a taxi or private hire car, check the driver's name and car registration match what you were told to expect before getting in. You have the right to check. Share your journey details with someone: most taxi apps have a live share feature. Sit behind the driver rather than in the front seat.

If you are walking, stick to well-lit streets and avoid shortcuts through parks, alleys, or any area that is quiet and dark. One earbud in rather than two is a reasonable compromise between listening to music and being able to hear what is around you. Walk with purpose: looking as though you know where you are going reduces your appearance of vulnerability.

If something feels wrong, trust that feeling. If a driver's behaviour makes you uncomfortable, ask to be dropped at a busy public place rather than your home address. If someone is following you, go into a pub, shop, or other public place and let staff know. The price of an unnecessary precaution is very small. The price of ignoring a genuine warning is potentially much higher.

If Something Goes Wrong

If something happens to you or a friend on a night out, getting help quickly is the priority. Call 999 in an emergency. Bar staff, venue security, and police are all sources of help in a crisis.

If you have been a victim of sexual assault or another serious offence, you do not have to make any immediate decisions about reporting. What matters first is getting to safety, getting any necessary medical care, and having support around you. If you want to keep your options open regarding reporting, avoid showering or changing clothes before speaking to police. The NHS provides Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) where you can receive medical care and support, with or without involving the police.

Do not allow shame or the concern about getting someone in trouble to stop you from getting help. You deserve help. Your friends deserve to know if something has happened so they can support you. And if someone has done something that harmed you, reporting is the mechanism that protects other people from the same harm.