It’s an old message, yet year after year, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups and newspaper editorials such as these attempt to drive home the same tired message.

Don’t drink and drive.

If you do, you could kill yourself. You could kill your friends. You could kill your brother or sister, your mom or whoever else is unlucky enough to be in the car with you.

Or, worst of all, you could slaughter the innocent family who is on their way home from a pleasant evening with grandma and grandpa.

Of course, you might get away with it and arrive at your destination without incident, but that won’t last. If you drive while intoxicated, sooner or later you’ll pay the piper.

And if you’re the one who lives, you can look forward to a long stay in one of Washington’s lovely prisons.

Locally, the Impaired Driving Impact Panel of Island County has done great work in raising awareness of the dangers of driving under the influence. The group has provided outreach to those at risk for under-age drinking, as well as military personnel where substance abuse is an ongoing concern.

All of the above is common knowledge. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find a person who isn’t aware of the deadly consequences of drinking and driving.

Yet, each year nearly 10,000 people nationwide are killed by those driving under the influence, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, with News Year’s being the most dangerous day of the year due to parties and get-togethers.

In Whidbey terms, that’s about 10 times the population of Langley, five times the number of people in Coupeville, and about Naval Air Station Whidbey Island’s entire employee complement.

In Washington state alone, more than 1,000 were killed in impaired driving collisions between 2009 and 2013, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

In a recent news release, the agency reported that impaired driving was involved in nearly half of all traffic deaths and more than 20 percent of serious injury collisions statewide.

It also noted that in a June survey of drivers, seven out of 10 have used marijuana and almost half of those have recently driven within a couple of hours after marijuana use. It went on to say nearly 90 percent of those same drivers said they did not think pot degraded their driving ability “despite research showing that driving while high doubles your chance of killing yourself or others in a crash.” Shockingly, it also reported that 25 percent of those respondents actually believe that being high made them better drivers.

Rubbish. Utter rubbish.

Alcohol and marijuana do not improve reaction times or sharpen senses, and people who make such arguments only do so until they kill themselves or someone else.

New Year’s is a time to celebrate new beginnings, not court death and tragedy.

Drink and smoke responsibly.