The concept of a designated driver, who avoids alcohol to be able to drive his friends home safely, might work for the older crowd but not with the younger generation, Mario Spiteri, from the Health Promotion Department, said yesterday, ahead of what will inevitably be another New Year's Eve of over-indulgence for many.

"Which young person will accept to abstain from drinking just to be able to be his friends' driver?" he asked.

The concept is strongly advocated by The Sense Group (TSG) but group chief executive officer Joe Farrugia admitted the initiative needed to enjoy greater acceptance among young people.

Another way, he suggested, was to plan organised transport, which was what a number of people were doing. This would help reduce the risk of traffic accidents.

Despite all the warnings that drinking and driving is a dangerous mix, many will be those who decide to take the risk anyway tomorrow night. Others will take a safer route and pay for a taxi so that they can enjoy their tipple without putting their life, and that of others, at risk.

"Ideally, if a person is going to drink he should get a taxi or a minibus," Dr Spiteri said.

Indeed, taxi and minibus operators will have their hands full on New Year's Eve, trying to get people to their destination as quickly and safely as they can.

However, John Grech, from Wembley Motors, said bookings were not encouraged on a night like tomorrow.

"Picking up a person on time depends on many factors, including the weather and the traffic. Sometimes it takes three times the normal time to get from one place to the other on such a busy day," he said. On the other hand, regular customers are rarely turned down, he added.

About 35 of the company's cars will be out on the road tomorrow evening.

Party goers who want to start the evening in style even before arriving at their destination can book a stretch limousine. Paul Camenzuli, the owner of Limousine Services, said New Year's Eve is the most popular night of the year but for the driver it is nothing short of a nightmare, mainly because of the heavy traffic.

As for those who are still adamant about using their cars without forgoing a celebratory drink, it will take about an hour on average for their liver to metabolise a unit of alcohol.

Dr Spiteri said drinking faster than the body can get rid of the alcohol will lead to inebriation, which includes slower reflexes, making driving dangerous. Some people are badly affected by even a small amount of alcohol, he pointed out.

For those who still want to drink but do not want to suffer too many adverse effects, Dr Spiteri recommends not drinking on an empty stomach. "The richer the food consumed, the slower the absorption of alcohol by the body." Although drinking milk might help reduce the absorption rate, this is not a foolproof method, he warned.

On the other hand, drinking sparkling alcoholic beverages - including sparkling wine and spirits mixed with fizzy drinks - increases the rate of absorption and makes people drunk faster.

The worst thing to do is mix different alcoholic beverages. "If you start drinking whisky, stick to it, and don't switch to vodka or another drink," Dr Spiteri said, adding that such mixtures are a sure route to an upset stomach and a ruined night.

Taking salt with drinks increases the rate of absorption, thus increasing the level of drunkenness.

Alcohol-related danger also increases when people are taking medicine. Many medicines have an "unpredictable effect" when taken with alcohol, Dr Spiteri said.

"One may not necessarily be drunk, but without realising it, one's his reflex actions would be very slow."

Dr Spiteri said he was completely against the organisation of open-bar parties, saying these were "an excuse for binge drinking" with people out to get their money's worth.

Those who anticipate waking up with a raging headache and an upset stomach on Sunday morning might want to source some prickly pear extract.

Jeff Wiese, from New Orleans' Tulane University, found that the Malta-produced extract of the prickly pear taken hours before consuming alcohol seems to suppress some of the morning-after symptoms.