Posted on: Saturday, December 22, 2001

Celebrate but remember that drunk driving kills

Ah, the holidays, that festive time of year when saying "no" to calories can brand you a party pooper. Suddenly, everyone's plying you with Yuletide chocolates, cookies and booze, and there's no good reason to decline.

This year, the post-9-11 angst is likely to spur some hard-core drinking sprees around the Islands as we bid farewell to a tougher-than-average year.

But for the sake of everyone on Hawai'i's roads, keep your alcohol consumption modest, and sober up before you drive. That goes for kids as well as adults.

Recent studies show that more than 80 percent of Hawai'i's 12th-graders have used alcohol and more than 50 percent have consumed enough to get drunk. Put them behind a steering wheel, and you've got trouble.

By Dec. 31, Hawai'i's traffic fatality count for the year is expected to exceed 130. To keep the roads safe during the holidays, police around the state are stepping up enforcement of drunk driving laws, with more checkpoints at unannounced places and times.

The fact is, safe driving demands sound judgment and sharp reflexes to prepare for the unexpected, and alcohol dulls those skills. So have yourselves a merry little Christmas. And you know the drill, don't drink and drive.