WITH just a month to go before Christmas, the annual warnings about the dangers of drink-driving will soon be sounded.

And as always, there will be those who ignore those warnings and risk the lives of themselves and others.

Last year, drink-drivers killed five people in the region and left 58 seriously injured.

According to research by road safety charity Brake, drink-drive casualties have risen by a third in the past decade, despite the best efforts of those striving to hammer home the warnings.

What is particularly alarming is research showing that more than half of young drivers admit to drink-driving, while ten per cent say they have driven after drinking three to five pints.

One in five young people even claim that they are unaware of the drink-drive limit.

But it is not only those who drink and drive who are guilty. It is also those who turn a blind eye, knowing that people are getting behind the wheel after drinking too much.

A survey yesterday showed that the public would back a change in the law to prosecute passengers who knowingly travelled in a car being driven by someone who had been drinking.

We support the view that anyone who gets in a car with a drink-driver must share the responsibility for the consequences, and must therefore accept some of the punishment.

Our message to drivers is a straightforward one: Don't concern yourself with what the limit might be - just don't drink anything.

It is the only truly safe option.