There are many different ways that we can celebrate New Year's Eve. Many people choose to spend a quiet evening at home with family, others will host a party with family and friends and yet others will go out and have dinner, go to a party or enjoy drinks at a local pub or bar. Because this can be one of the most dangerous nights of the year, with many people drinking and operating motor vehicles, safety should be your top priority. So what are some of the things that you can do to help ensure your safety?

If you are planning to have people over to your house for a party there are number of things that you can do to help make this a comfortable and safe evening for your guests. These things could include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Try and keep a manageable list of guests that you invite to your home. It is always a good idea to invite people that you know and attempt to limit the number of guests that your invited guests bring. You will also want to keep an eye on your guests and make sure that everyone is limiting their consumption of alcohol and are behaving appropriately
• Consider the liability that will attach with serving alcohol at your party. Most people will serve alcohol to their guests but you should be aware that there is liability that will go along with the service of alcohol. You need to be responsible host and make sure that nobody attempts to drive a motor vehicle that has consumed too much alcohol. You need to properly monitor your guests and make sure that those that have consumed too much alcohol either have a ride home or you can arrange for transportation for them
• You should make sure that you have plenty of food on hand as well as a wide selection of nonalcoholic beverages. You will not only make your party more enjoyable by serving a great deal of food but this can help counteract the effects of alcohol on your party guests
• It is a good idea to plan a number of games or activities for your party guests that do not involve alcohol. People love the interaction that will flow from games that involve teams and the participation of the other party guests. It is a great way to introduce people to one another and to slow the flow of alcohol
• There were a number of suggestions in online articles that involved avoiding the use of fireworks and firearms in a party environment especially where alcohol is involved. These suggestions would appear to be obvious but evidently mentioning them might help to reduce at least one potential accident involving these dangerous activities

If you are planning to go out for the evening by either attending a house party or some function at a public place then you should consider doing some or all of the following:

• Make sure you designate a driver before you go out. This individual should consume no alcohol whatsoever and will be the person that will be responsible for driving all of the people that are in their care around for the evening
• If you are going out with a number of people you should make sure you check in with them on a regular basis and see that they are safe and have not consumed an excessive amount of alcohol which could endanger their safety and the safety of others
• You should charge your phone before you go out for the evening so that you do not have to worry about not being able to contact somebody in an emergency or having someone else contact you
• Make sure that you eat so that you can reduce the effects of alcohol on your system and monitor the amount of alcohol that you consume;
• If at all possible, you should not leave your motor vehicle out overnight so you can avoid any type of criminal mischief or activity and so that someone does not hit your car while parked out on the roadway

Regardless of how you choose to celebrate, this is the time of the year when you should be with family and friends and reflect upon all of the blessings that you have experienced over the past year and to look forward to many good times over the coming year. Be responsible, be safe and happy new year!