This danger all begins with a subtle game of hide and go seek. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the combination of alcohol and energy drinks creates a masking effect. In short, it makes you feel sober when you’re really not. So you have no idea just how drunk you are.   

This is why those who mix alcohol and energy drinks are more likely to binge drink-three times more likely to be exact. That’s because caffeine hypes the desire for alcohol. It makes you feel better, which makes you want more. So you keep drinking.

This puts you in a number of statistical categories that could change life as you know it. Studies show that combining alcohol and energy drinks elevates one’s risk of drinking and driving. This issue is so relevant that some experts are calling it a public health concern.

Unfortunately, you will be clueless to the situation. According to Time, researchers say that the effects of caffeine can make a person look and feel more sober than they actually are. This can increase the risk of a person making the decision to drive by four times. In other words, you’ve just put yourself at risk of getting a DUI.

That is if anyone knows you’re really drunk. Even more concerning, police officers may not be able to tell that a driver is drunk. So they might not perform tests to determine just how much you’ve had to drink.

In addition, those who partake in these concoctions are twice as likely to ride with someone who is drunk. This puts the person who has consumed alcohol/energy drink combinations at a higher risk of being involved in an accident without even knowing it.