My expat friend jokes the "Linda factor" - a term awarded to me after pestering him on the dos and don'ts of drinking and driving - may have convinced him not to join his ball buddies for a few rounds of post-game beer the other night.

But then he quickly adds, maybe not.

I may never know why he chose the responsible route that evening, but I like to think I helped save him from a drinking and driving fine and temporary license suspension as China tightens rules on drunk-driving after incidents of drunk-drivers killing innocent people outraged the whole country.

My friend's car, reeking of alcohol from the backseat boozehounds, was a stench strong enough to warrant a breathalyzer test from the cops. They are increasingly patrolling the roads late at night and during the wee morning hours as the one-year countdown to the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai continues.

Luckily for him, he hadn't so much as had a single drop that night.

The topic of drinking and driving is something of a conversation starter for us these days. After one fateful occurrence, I may forever be remembered as something of a "brutal czar" on the issue.

It all began one Saturday night at a bar when a quick look over in his direction exposed his tomato-tinted face.

His high school pals insisted his complexion had nothing to do with the second bottle of Jack Daniels that had just been cracked at our table, but was rather due to his inability to tan after hours under the sun.

But I wasn't buying it.

Years of anti-drinking and driving campaigns back in Canada have turned me into a crazed disbeliever.