DR. WALLACE: I'd like to respond to the letter from the girl whose boyfriend, who had been drinking, "helped out" an even more intoxicated friend by driving him home in the friend's car. Her boyfriend missed a curve, ran off the road and flipped over. Luckily, the boys were wearing seatbelts and weren't seriously injured. Consider the girl's boyfriend very lucky and very foolish!

I volunteer for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Part of my work involves being a victim advocate, which requires attending court cases of drunken drivers and providing the victim's family with pertinent information.

In one memorable case, a young man, 32, drove a friend's car home from a party because the friend was too drunk to drive. He managed to smash up his friend's car, but that wasn't the bad news. The car he hit head-on was being driven by a young bride who was on her way to pick up her husband from work. The drunk driver told the judge he got behind the wheel because he was less drunk than his friend was.

The reason why you have to take the keys from a drunk is because the drunk has lost the ability to determine how drunk he really is. That's also why you should take the keys from the drunk who took keys from the drunk!

All drivers who consume alcohol must understand that the very first alcoholic drink affects judgment. They should always have someone who has not had that first drink do the driving. — Anne, Columbus, Ohio.

ANNE: Sound advice. Thanks so much for sharing your useful information with our teen readers. A person who has been drinking, even if only one beer, should never drive a motor vehicle since even one beer can impair driving skills to some degree.

WELL-CHAPERONED SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ARE GOOD

DR. WALLACE: Recently you said you couldn't think of a better way for a teen to spend an evening than attending a well-chaperoned function at his or her school. I can think of many activities that are better, but I don't think you'll print them. In case I'm wrong, however, here they are:

—Joining a church group that provides spiritual guidance, new friendships, Bible studies and fun activities.

—Visiting a nursing home and sharing love and gaining wisdom from the elderly.

—Having hobbies such as photography, ceramics and needlework.

—Learning how to sew and adding inexpensively to your wardrobe.

—Learning how to type.

—Learning a foreign language from a "teach yourself" book or record.

—Visiting the library regularly.

—Reading the newspaper daily, including your column.

—Learning to play a musical instrument.

—Writing letters to friends, relatives, pen pals and political leaders.

—Writing poems, short stories and songs.

—Taking care of a true companion — a pet.

—Learning how to cook.

—Spending time with family or good friends. — Nameless, Goshen, Ind.

NAMELESS: Well said! But I think you could do many of your splendid activities and still have time to attend a few well-chaperoned school activities.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert

Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.