With every holiday season comes the rounds of merry-making. Civic groups, friends, family, coworkers — this most wonderful time of the year is chock full of parties.

And every year, someone’s holiday is ruined by drinking and driving. Whether it’s handling court dates, court fines, increased insurance, inability to drive during non-working hours, a DUI can have lasting ramifications. Should an impaired driver hit another vehicle or injure, or even kill, a person, those consequences can be life-changing, for both driver and victim.

Last holiday season, 33 people were arrested and charged with DUIs on Beaufort County roads. Thirty-three people got into their vehicles, cranked the engines and drove when they were not legally able to do so. Thirty-three is far too many. Because it’s only luck or circumstance that those 33 instances of driving under the influence did not result in 33 or more deaths.

This time of year, law enforcement is on the alert; checkpoints are frequent and random. Everyone should simply do themselves, and law enforcement, a favor and make smart decisions about how they’re getting home from any given holiday celebration, if there is drinking involved. Have a sober driver, call a cab, make plans to spend the night, walk — there are many other options than the one that is both illegal and could prove fatal.

This holiday season, let’s get that 33 impaired drivers arrested last year in Beaufort County down to none at all.

Don’t ruin the holidays, for you or anyone else.