The Gazette-Enterprise

The Labor Day holiday marks the unofficial end of summer in the United States — unofficial because for school children summer has been over for a couple of weeks now, and the Texas thermometer still insists that summer hasn’t loosened its iron grip just yet.

All that being said, many people will take the opportunity the long weekend presents to throw a backyard barbecue or go visit family and friends.

A lot of those celebrations will include tired drivers — and unfortunately — drivers under the influence of alcohol.

That’s why law enforcement across the state will be out in force over the holiday weekend to try and make sure that everyone gets to go back to work on Tuesday.

They’ll be on the lookout for those speed demons who are trying to shave a fraction of a second off their travel time — weaving in and out of traffic, endangering all of the other drivers on the roadway.

They’ll be making sure that car seat and seat belt laws are being followed. Don’t buckle up just because it’s the law — buckle up because it saves lives. It really is just common sense.

A hybrid vehicle in Austin presented one of the most important holiday choices perfectly.

It was a yellow cab in the back with a police car in the front.

The message was crystal clear — it’s far cheaper to pay for a cab, or chip in some gas money for a designated driving friend, than it is to pay the court fees, fines and other costs associated with a DWI arrest.

Of course, those costs pale when you compare them to the possible loss of human life when you slide behind the wheel after drinking.

Just don’t do it.

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