Tomorrow another calendar year ends and with it, a new one begins.

With the New Year mere hours away and with visions of sugarplums still emblazoned across many of our waistlines, many Americans are thinking about their New Year’s resolutions.

Most of the common ones are quite familiar.

Get in shape.

Lose weight.

Stop smoking.

Eat more healthy foods.

The list could go on and on.

Each of those is a great goal on which to strive and each is a lofty resolution.

But one resolution, if it applies to you, could trump all of those other resolutions combined.

In the time it takes many of us to get ready for work and school, statistically, an American dies in an alcohol-related driving accident. That’s correct, in 2007, every 40 minutes, drunk driving claimed another life.

As we prepare to celebrate the ringing in of a New Year tomorrow night, let’s consider that the ultimate resolution may be one that saves not only your life, but the lives of others, too.

Drinking and driving kills — that’s a fact — but it can be stopped.

All too often motorists slide behind the wheel having had too much alcohol to be able to drive safely.

“I’m fine,” the stubborn among us say to themselves and each other. Pride mixed with alcohol will make you say and do stupid things.

As you enjoy yourselves this week and throughout the year, ask yourself a simple question before you get behind the wheel: Is my pride worth risking my life and the lives of others?