Drink and Drive this New Years - Better said you drink and let us drive
At the end of the night this New Year's Eve, several Phoenix-area businesses will compete for the business of the drunken, the bleary-eyed and the unsteady.
These businesses, with names such as Drunk Drivers, Designated Drivers and Designated Drivers 24-7, typically pick up drinkers and charge them a flat rate plus mileage to get them home in their cars while a second driver follows to bring the first driver back.
Some businesses have annual subscriptions, some offer unlimited monthly rides for a fee and some just charge per ride. At least five of these companies have opened since fall 2007.
In response to more-stringent DUI penalties for drivers with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher, these companies are part of a movement by metro Phoenix bar and restaurant owners, liquor distributors and hotel and resort managers to help people drink responsibly. The laws, which took effect in September 2007, are among the strictest in the nation, with penalties in most cases requiring at least 10 days in jail and up to $4,000 in fees and fines, as well as installation of an ignition-interlock device.
While DUI arrests have dropped about 3 percent, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety's 2008 annual report, alcohol sales also have fallen 25 percent, according to the Valley-based Beverage Alcohol Community Information Council, or BACIC, a non-profit made up of local and national alcohol and hospitality groups.
Valley businesses have developed ways to get people to drink more, and more safely.
The Vig in Phoenix offers drinkers a free ride home in its van, the Vig Rig. HB Hanratty's in Phoenix serves 4-ounce Tiny Tinis. AZ 88 in Scottsdale serves a free pink juice "mocktail" to designated drivers. Other bars have added to their non-alcoholic drink menus and some offer discounts to drinkers participating in light-rail bar crawls.
Designated-driver services pick up where these innovations leave off. Now, an intoxicated reveler can use a designated-driver service instead of accepting a free ride home and having to return later to get his or her car.
"At first, people didn't understand someone else driving their car, and they thought it would be super, super expensive," said Michael Ferrante, CEO of Zingo Arizona, a company whose drivers arrive on collapsible scooters that can be stowed in clients' cars. "But people are catching on. They understand they can be safe without sacrificing convenience."
Attracting customers hasn't been easy. Nationally, few businesses like these have taken hold outside of Las Vegas and the Valley, according to Steve Chucri, chairman of BACIC and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association. Struggles include paying for high insurance premiums to make sure employed drivers are insured over and above clients' insurances and persuading drunken people to let strangers, even ones they've called, drive them home.
"The worst thing we hear when we show up, more often than we'd like to, is, 'I should be OK,' " Ferrante said.
But these businesses have gotten help from distributors such as Hensley & Co. and organizations such as BACIC, which have sponsored free-ride giveaways over the past two years to publicize the services.
This month, BACIC has partnered with Designated Drivers 24-7, Zingo Arizona and about 30 bars in Tempe Marketplace, Mill Avenue and Old Town Scottsdale areas to provide about 800 free rides home through the new year.
Chris Osborne, owner of cowboy bar Cadillac Ranch at Tempe Marketplace, has been distributing free-ride cards to patrons who order bottle service.
"These people are coming in and throwing down on bottles and you want to reward them for spending more," he said. "People love it. They think the Zingo thing is funny to see a guy show up in a little scooter that packs up in a suitcase and he's in a helmet and a safety jacket. It's cool."
Michelle Malin, owner of Drunk Drivers car service, recently enjoyed the endorsement of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
"With the law changing to 30 days in jail for an extreme DUI, I like to say, you can spend 30 minutes with me or 30 days with him," Malin said.
Source: Drink and Drive this New Years - Better said you drink and let us drive
These businesses, with names such as Drunk Drivers, Designated Drivers and Designated Drivers 24-7, typically pick up drinkers and charge them a flat rate plus mileage to get them home in their cars while a second driver follows to bring the first driver back.
Some businesses have annual subscriptions, some offer unlimited monthly rides for a fee and some just charge per ride. At least five of these companies have opened since fall 2007.
In response to more-stringent DUI penalties for drivers with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher, these companies are part of a movement by metro Phoenix bar and restaurant owners, liquor distributors and hotel and resort managers to help people drink responsibly. The laws, which took effect in September 2007, are among the strictest in the nation, with penalties in most cases requiring at least 10 days in jail and up to $4,000 in fees and fines, as well as installation of an ignition-interlock device.
While DUI arrests have dropped about 3 percent, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety's 2008 annual report, alcohol sales also have fallen 25 percent, according to the Valley-based Beverage Alcohol Community Information Council, or BACIC, a non-profit made up of local and national alcohol and hospitality groups.
Valley businesses have developed ways to get people to drink more, and more safely.
The Vig in Phoenix offers drinkers a free ride home in its van, the Vig Rig. HB Hanratty's in Phoenix serves 4-ounce Tiny Tinis. AZ 88 in Scottsdale serves a free pink juice "mocktail" to designated drivers. Other bars have added to their non-alcoholic drink menus and some offer discounts to drinkers participating in light-rail bar crawls.
Designated-driver services pick up where these innovations leave off. Now, an intoxicated reveler can use a designated-driver service instead of accepting a free ride home and having to return later to get his or her car.
"At first, people didn't understand someone else driving their car, and they thought it would be super, super expensive," said Michael Ferrante, CEO of Zingo Arizona, a company whose drivers arrive on collapsible scooters that can be stowed in clients' cars. "But people are catching on. They understand they can be safe without sacrificing convenience."
Attracting customers hasn't been easy. Nationally, few businesses like these have taken hold outside of Las Vegas and the Valley, according to Steve Chucri, chairman of BACIC and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association. Struggles include paying for high insurance premiums to make sure employed drivers are insured over and above clients' insurances and persuading drunken people to let strangers, even ones they've called, drive them home.
"The worst thing we hear when we show up, more often than we'd like to, is, 'I should be OK,' " Ferrante said.
But these businesses have gotten help from distributors such as Hensley & Co. and organizations such as BACIC, which have sponsored free-ride giveaways over the past two years to publicize the services.
This month, BACIC has partnered with Designated Drivers 24-7, Zingo Arizona and about 30 bars in Tempe Marketplace, Mill Avenue and Old Town Scottsdale areas to provide about 800 free rides home through the new year.
Chris Osborne, owner of cowboy bar Cadillac Ranch at Tempe Marketplace, has been distributing free-ride cards to patrons who order bottle service.
"These people are coming in and throwing down on bottles and you want to reward them for spending more," he said. "People love it. They think the Zingo thing is funny to see a guy show up in a little scooter that packs up in a suitcase and he's in a helmet and a safety jacket. It's cool."
Michelle Malin, owner of Drunk Drivers car service, recently enjoyed the endorsement of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
"With the law changing to 30 days in jail for an extreme DUI, I like to say, you can spend 30 minutes with me or 30 days with him," Malin said.
Source: Drink and Drive this New Years - Better said you drink and let us drive
