Rant: Please Don't Drink & Drive

It is a very simple rule. If you have had too much alcohol to drink, don't drive. Any questions?

During this holiday season, there will be plenty of celebrating, and alcohol may be involved, from beer to wine, from cocktails to shots. There is certainly nothing wrong with having a drink or two. There is even nothing wrong with having three or more drinks. Just don't drive afterwards.

We all know the dangers of drinking and driving, and would have to have been living in a cave all our lives not to know those perils. We endanger our own lives as well as the lives of others. Every year, the newspapers report about terrible auto accidents, some with fatalities, that occur because a driver was intoxicated. So why don't we learn better? Even if you don't get in an accident, you might get arrested for drunk driving, with all the attendant costs. You might even end up in jail.

If there is any question, no matter how small, whether you are too intoxicated to drive, then don't. If your family or friends think you have had too much to drink, don't drive. Just don't. It is not worth the risk by any calculation.

Let someone else drive you, whether it be a friend or family. Take a taxi or public transportation.  Leave your car where it is parked as you can always pick it up the next day.  You have plenty of options so there is absolutely no reason to drink and drive.

I don't want to lose any family or friends this year due to a drunk driving accident. So please just don't!
 
(This is a slightly modified copy of a post I wrote last year, but the message is so vitally important that I felt it needed to be said again.)

Addenum (as of 12/14/10): As I read today's newspaper, I was very disturbed to see another senseless tragedy, an alleged drunk driver who struck and killed an innocent pedestrian. And this occurred outside of a State Police barracks!  This Rant is so important so please, please heed the message.