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Designated-driver services ready for revelers

Date Posted: Fri, Dec 31 2010, The Washington Post
Steve Watkins will spend the high-energy first hours of 2011 as a designated driver. Some of his passengers he may know well, but others will be complete strangers - and he will be driving their cars.

Watkins and the eight full-time employees of his company, Drivers Inc., will serve up to 100 customers as people make their way to and from parties ringing in the new year across the region.

Watkins co-founded the business three years ago, but it became personal in 2009 after a customer lost his wife when a drunk driver going the wrong way on the Capital Beltway collided with her car, killing her instantly.

"We can either create a culture of fear or a culture of options," Watkins said. "By simply reminding people they have options, you can get across the idea you don't have to drink and drive to get home."

Drivers Inc. isn't alone in providing rides for people who drink too much. BeMyDD, an Ohio-based company, is expanding a similar designated-driver service into the Washington region this month. And the Washington Regional Alcohol Program's SoberRide service has been around since 1993. It provides free taxi rides up to a $30 value. As of Thursday morning, SoberRide had provided 1,354 rides this holiday season and 50,542 free rides since it began, according to WRAP. It is a public-private partnership that works to prevent drunken driving and underage drinking.