The Christmas card looked like any of the others that came in the mail. It was from Mrs. Anthony's friend in Montana, Sally. Inside the card, Sally had written a little note:

"Sorry I haven't emailed or called," she wrote. "My boyfriend and me were hit by a drunk driver."

"I got off easy," she continued, "with two fractured bones in my lower back & lots of seatbelt bruises."

"But Rick ruptured his small bowel and had internal bleeding," her letter read. "He was in the hospital for 12 days and almost died."

Sally is a sweet, optimistic person, practical and not given to much drama. So we were dismayed to read about the trouble, and it got me to thinking about how much alcohol has figured into the lives of ourselves and our friends.

It seems like there is a new story in the news every week about the benefits of a glass of wine or a couple of beers. I guess it makes sense, if the scientists and researchers say so, although we never seem to hear about how those health benefits weigh in against the negative aspects of too much of this good thing.

That is the trouble, in a glass, as it were.

Lots of folks are able to enjoy a glass or two of wine with a meal, a beer with a friend or a toast of champagne at a party, and then decline more libations or switch to a non-alcoholic alternative.

But far too many do not have that ability and when they over-imbibe, it creates problems, the worst of which happens when driving a vehicle.

I've been there and done that. Today I feel foolish for having done so.

Beyond the risk of piling up a car, I was risking the lives of others, just because I was too pigheaded to refuse more booze.

So I quit drinking four years ago, as did Mrs. A. And though we miss the occasional glass of wine with dinner, we don't miss the mornings after when we'd drank more than we needed, or the boorishness and blathering of people at parties who over-imbibed.

A good, old friend of mine has had a lifelong addiction to Bud Light. I still like him, because he's still intelligent, but I won't protect him or coddle him. His name is Carl.

Carl needs beer to survive. He's been through the entire gamut of treatment options, including rehab and the drug "antabuse."

Nothing has worked, except for the brainpower he has managed to exert over his addiction.

Last year, Carl was busted for the second time for "driving under the influence" and instead of taking a breathalyzer test, he declined, knowing that he would lose his license for a one year minimum.

So now he can still drink beer all day long, he is just prohibited from driving his car. This is good for other people on the roads and sidewalks, but in my opinion, it is not enough.

Lots of people who have been caught still manage to drive when they're drunk, and this is troubling.

A new story in the news outlines how DUI offenders are thumbing their noses at Ignition Interlock devices that the courts mandate must be installed on their cars.

The story explains that of the 28,000 convicted drunk drivers in this state, only 4,400 have installed the units because there aren't any agencies in line to verify the mandated order.

In addition, the devices that are in place are easily defeated, some simply by having someone other than the car's owner blow into the thing to make the car start.

So, in regard to people who have been convicted of driving while drunk, my stance has become more militant.

I have no problem with anyone who wants to drink, as long as they don't also drive. It seems like a simple plan, but the plan goes awry on a regular basis.

Statistics like this tend to make peoples eyes glass over: In 2004, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that in Washington state, of 563 traffic fatalities, 246 of them, or 44 percent, were alcohol related. Unbelievably, this number is an improvement from previous years.

A more recent analysis of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics shows that, by the time our country finishes ringing in the year 2007 as many as 135 people will die in alcohol-related traffic crashes in the 12-hour span between 6:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve and 5:59 a.m. the next morning.

This is disturbing, but there are alternatives to this fate.

The strange thing is, just about everyone we know knows someone who drinks and drives and thinks nothing of it.

It is treated like a little secret: don't talk about it and it will go away. I have been in taverns, at parties or gatherings where I've seem people stumble out to their cars and drive away.

I didn't say a word, either out of timidity or embarrassment, my actions, along with theirs, could have contributed to a tragedy.

At the bar or the holiday party it is far more desirable to hear someone say, "I've had enough," or better yet, "Here's the keys...you'd better drive home."