By and large, the New Year’s Eve festivities were not marred by alcohol related injuries or deaths and it is heartening, bearing in mind the tragedies of Asia, to note that no individual tragedies were recorded due to excessive indulgence.

Christmas and the New Year were becoming calendar dates for deaths on the roads in Malta, largely caused by over-drinking or tiredness from a night of alcohol-fuelled revelry. One only has to look at the last days of December to see that an accident can happen at any time and to anyone without adding drink to further compound matters.

But this year, we did not record any deaths or serious injuries in the early hours of Christmas and the New Year.

We must look at the reasons behind this and the most forthcoming one is down to the various anti-drink-driving campaigns that have taken place in the run up to festivities over recent years.

Some argued that some posters displayed were too graphic and shocking – but we are reaping the benefits.

Shock and awe is not a bad tool at all if one uses it to preserve the lives of both innocent parties and those who might have previously indulged and caused an accident that could have led sorrow and mourning over New Year – a time for planning the future.

One could note that places like Paceville were thoroughly swamped by fleets of taxi cabs and mini-buses on New Year’s Eve – and this was great to see. The demand for a ride home was there – and taxi drivers were equal to it. Many travelled to Paceville in their own cars, but decided to leave them there overnight and catch a taxi home. This was perhaps one of the wiser moves and at least shows that while we Maltese can be rebellious when it comes to obeying rules – common sense does sometimes prevail.

Another point worth mentioning is that many groups of youngsters implemented the car-pooling and designated driver plans. This means that one group of people shares a ride in someone’s car and that person has to stay off the drink to be sober when s/he drives everyone home.

The police also had an important role to play in the matter, there was plenty of police presence which, in its own way, discourages people from driving home if they have had one too many.

Of course, there were the ‘clever’ ones who decided they could drive home after all, and while one hopes they all got home safely – they should perhaps spare a thought for potential victims, if not themselves.

There is no doubt about it – Malta has a culture (especially amongst the younger generation) that one can drink and drive safely. This is absolute rubbish – drinking and driving just do not go together. It is a known and established fact that people who are just slightly over the limit become over confident while at the same time suffering from impaired reflexes – that in itself is a potential disaster waiting to happen – let alone people who get inebriated and still insist on driving.

This is why it is important not to drink and drive.

While one could say, “thank God no one was hurt on New Year and Christmas”, we think that this mentality should extend to every weekend. The perils of drink driving cannot be, in any way, understated. It is a killer and we must adopt the ‘safe drive home’ attitude at all times, not just during the Festive Season.