Countywide : It’s on the House Soberly for Designated Drivers

A pilot program that aims to put sober drivers behind the wheel will face one of its biggest tests tonight as the New Year’s Eve revelry gets under way.

The county chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving has signed up 24 restaurants and bars to participate in its designated driver program, executive director Janet Cater said.

Participating businesses serve free non-alcoholic drinks to one person designated as the driver for two or more people. The designated driver in return pledges to remain sober and drive the others home.

The designated driver is identified by a pin picturing a driver with two hands on a steering wheel. The pins can be purchased for $1 each at any of the participating businesses.

Among the county restaurants that have agreed to participate in the program are three Red Onions and three Claim Jumpers.

“We are continuously recruiting,” Cater said. The recruiting “is going slower than we would like. People have a tendency to wait and look at how something works elsewhere first,” she said.

Cater said she hopes the program is able to curb the estimated 1 million undetected drunk-driving trips in the county each year. Last year, 159 people were killed and 5,000 injured in accidents related to drunk driving, she said. Nationally, she added, there were 600,000 injuries related to drunk driving last year.