The motor-car is a necessary evil. We all depend on it to get on with out daily lives, to go to work, to go shopping, and sometimes just to pass the time driving around.

But it is also a lethal weapon. There is a never-ending series of accidents. Careless drivers and careless pedestrians all contribute to the toll on the roads. Some accidents may be unavoidable, though there is a school of thought that says all accidents must be due to some human failing. Well, that’s probably a matter of degree.

Certainly there are causes of accidents that can be preventable. The driver has a special responsibility, being the controller of a lethal machine. The laws are stringent, yet there are people who will take a chance and think that they can get away with it.

One thing that is an eternal truth is that driving and drinking do not mix. Alcohol impairs judgment. It’s as simple as that. The person behind the wheel loses his normal control.

One then wonders why some people still insist on taking charge of a car when he or she has been drinking. There are too many cases of driving under the influence for us to take notice any more, except when a celebrity gets into trouble, such as in the recent cases of Rebecca de Mornay and Paris Hilton. I am not singling out the ladies – but they bring the glamor to the headlines.

There are always excuses and no excuses. Sounds illogical – but I mean to say there are always some reasons to excuse bad driving, but they are not acceptable excuses if they are related to alcohol. And I think that is right. We must all drive with responsibility.