The year 2013 is all over but the shouting, as some people say. But sadly, it’s that “shouting” that can get us into trouble tonight if we’re not careful.

New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate the year coming to a close and the New Year about to be born, but above all it should be a time that we enjoy, but all live to tell about the next day.

Sadly, in the U.S. more than 10,000 people died in 2012 — the last year for which statistics are available — in alcohol-impaired automobile incidents.

Every 51 minutes, on average, someone dies in a drunk driving crash. But that’s not the full impact of the problem. Every 90 seconds someone is injured due to alcohol-impaired driving.

The problem isn’t just a national one, either; it’s not something that happens to someone else. In Mississippi, 179 people died last year due to drunk driving, while 241 died in Louisiana.

Sadly the statistics were up more than 10 percent in each state over the 2011 numbers.

Let’s make New Year’s Eve 2013 one to remember, not one we all wish we could forget. Don’t drink and drive. Period. Unfortunate, tragic accidents happen every day; however, drinking and driving is preventable.

So do all the shouting you’d like tonight, but please, at the end of the party, be big enough to say softly, “I’ve had too much to drink; someone else needs to drive.”