The bluesy song is wrong: Nighttime is not the right time, especially for driving under the influence. Despite education efforts, the potential for legal tangles and irreparable harm to oneself or another, too many us of persist in believing the laws are for everyone else.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that the rate of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes of any sort is more than three times as high at night. The rate of incidences that don’t involve a fatality is five times higher at night.

Although we don’t have any official word, it makes sense that just as dusk is falling, as people are ending a day in the sun, going home from work or a weekend ballgame or beginning a night out on the town, what television calls “the family hours” are anything but. They are instead the hours in which families are destroyed.

NHTSA estimates that alcohol is involved in around 40 percent of fatal crashes. Nationwide, that represents one fatality every 30 minutes or so. And nationwide more than a quarter of a million people were injured in traffic incidents that involved alcohol.

Not all vehicle (or motorcycle or bicycle or pedestrian) deaths involve alcohol. Speed is a factor in fatalities, as are the old favorites of following too close, failing to yield the right of way and other forms of aggressive driving. And this time of year, the chances of being involved in an accident are greater than ever.

We’re right in the middle of the 100 deadliest days on our roadways, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS).

Mix that with a long holiday weekend, more people on the local roads instead of traveling elsewhere, due to the high cost of gas, and there is an increasing chance for a pleasant evening out that ends badly.

As of June 29, 473 people had died this year on our highways, compared to 533 last year at this time. Although fatalities are down, that still means 473 lives, 473 families, 473 examples of lost potential, lost hope and the death of thousands of dreams of what could have been.

Through that same period, 59 motorcyclists, 44 pedestrians and six bicyclists died in traffic incidents.

The second SCHP study on motorcycle accidents, released in early June, cites several common factors, primarily speed, failure to yield and driving under the influence.

Motorcyclists and vehicle operators share in their culpability on these points. But many of the deadly collisions — 49 of 99 in the study that covered July 2006 through December 2007 — were single-vehicle wrecks.

Sadly, the majority of motorcyclists’ deaths occurred in the Upstate. Even worse, 73 of the 99 who died in that period were not wearing helmets.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) has begun an education effort, Ride Smart, with the help of a grant from NHTSA, to educate bikers, especially those new to the mode of transportation. The program also educates the driving public on interacting safely with motorcyclists. It can be a lifesaver, especially with an emphasis on wearing helmets. While we believe helmets should be a matter of law, as it is in other states, our legislature has repeatedly caved on the issue. But law or not, it is still the smart thing to do.

Stay safe this holiday period. Help keep others safe as well.

And remember: One more for the road might lead to only one place – a dead end.