In South Africa, drinking and driving is not the only lethal combination involving alcohol and roads - drinking and walking can also be deadly.
"If you drink, do not drive or walk anywhere," Transport Minister Dullah Omar said in a statement on Thursday, amid a mounting festive-season carnage on the perilous roads.
Many of the 839 South Africans killed by Thursday on the roads in the traditionally worst month of December - the same total as for all December 2001 - were pedestrians who strolled drunk onto unlit roads at night, officials said. Hence Omar's unusual appeal against drinking and walking.
The Christmas period - which coincides with the summer break - is one of the most deadly as South Africans and foreign tourists flock to villages, beaches and game parks.
South Africa has one of the worst road-safety records in the world, with accidents claiming around 10,000 lives a year.
Poorly maintained and overcrowded mini-bus taxis are involved in many of fatal crashes.
