This holiday season, if you are tempted to have one for the road and then get behind the wheel, why not just tip your waitress $14,000, call a cab, and save yourself a lot of grief? If you can't afford that tip, you can't afford to drive drunk either.

Rhode Island's "You Drink & Drive. You Lose" laws can make the decision to drink and drive a very costly one.

Besides the social and professional stigma of a drunk driving conviction, the cost in dollars of a drunk driving conviction is staggering. Mother's Against Drunk Driving ( MADD ) estimates the cost of a drunk driving conviction to be $10,000. But in some states the cost is much higher. Alaska estimates the cost to be $22,000.

For example, in Illinois a conviction includes these costs: $4,500 for high risk insurance for three years; at least $2,000 in legal fees; $3,350 in court costs; $4,000 in income loss due to four weeks in jail; $250 for a substance abuse class; $560 for a formal hearing to reinstate your driver's license.

Rhode Island's costs of a conviction is similar. And that doesn't even begin to count medical treatment, compensatory damages, or the horrific possibility of causing another person injury or death. There are still more than 17,000 alcohol-related traffic fatalities and half a million injuries each year.

"You Drink & Drive. You Lose," involves high-visibility enforcement like sobriety checkpoints that take just a moment for citizens and are proven to reduce alcohol-related traffic fatalities and injuries by 18 to 24 percent. MADD affiliates around the country are supporting law enforcement efforts by providing drunk driving awareness literature to motorists, making sure officers are recognized for their hard work and helping community leaders understand that by stopping drunk driving gains long-term benefits like lives saved and economic savings.

"Sobriety checkpoints are intimidating to those who break the law," says Wendy J. Hamilton, MADD national president. "Checkpoints deter drunk drivers because they are visible and frequent, and potential drunk drivers who are smart don't get behind the wheel at all. The odds are stacked against them."

Another point to ponder: If you are unfortunate enough to be an American convicted of drunk driving in Canada, you will never be admitted to the country again. But if you really want to fight your Canadian conviction, find yourself a good lawyer and bring along $40,000.

That's assuming you win.

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