“ONE for the road?” “Just one more won't hurt.” “Oh go on then, it's Christmas.”Three sayings none of us should ever hear. If anyone told you that they were going to drive their car after drinking several alcoholic drinks, possibly with innocent passengers inside, you'd think they were a total idiot and would hopefully discourage them from doing so.

“ONE for the road?” “Just one more won't hurt.” “Oh go on then, it's Christmas.”

Three sayings none of us should ever hear. If anyone told you that they were going to drive their car after drinking several alcoholic drinks, possibly with innocent passengers inside, you'd think they were a total idiot and would hopefully discourage them from doing so.

However, this festive season, with the party atmosphere in full swing, the likelihood is that someone somewhere will get back into their car after being over the legal alcohol limit. Despite all the police advertisements urging drivers not to drink and drive, some still insist that they're OK and risk not only their lives, but other innocent people's too.

Suffolk Constabulary have carried out 1,727 breath tests on the county's roads between the first 16 days of December as part of their annual Christmas crackdown - 67 of these tests were found to be positive. One is too many, but when you learn that our county's police found such a large number of positive results, you begin to wonder about all the other drivers all over the country who have not been tested. You aren't just responsible for yourself, you have to think of others too - if you drink and drive, the car isn't just a car anymore, it's effectively a weapon.

Anyway, what's the point? When taxis are so easy to get hold of, why not just book one and take the safe and sensible option? And in a town like Lowestoft, where most of the nightlife is in the town centre, why drive anyway?

If you live close to the town, take advantage of having a night out practically on your doorstep. The police are in no way trying to dampen anyone's enjoyment of the festive season, they're just doing their job and cracking down on people who think that they will get away with it.

Enjoy Christmas, but just remember that the police are cracking down on drink-drivers and doing everything they can to stamp it out, including increasing the number of patrols out on the roads.

If you haven't had anything to drink then you've done nothing wrong and you haven't got anything to worry about. The police just want to get the message across - don't be a statistic.