One for the road will be possible

Deepa Bharath

“I need my car in the morning.”

“I can’t afford a cab.”

Those are two of the most popular excuses people offer when caught

driving under the influence of alcohol, says Kori Fletchner,

executive director of the Designated Drivers Assn.’s Orange County

Chapter.

Beginning Dec. 20, the group will send volunteers -- working in

pairs -- to bars and restaurants in Newport and Huntington beaches to

drive those who have had one too many.

“One will pick up the person from the bar and drive him or her

home,” she said. “The other volunteer will drive the person’s car

back home. So it saves them from having to take a cab, and they have

their car in the morning.”

The program began in Sacramento and San Diego counties last year.

Orange County ranks third in DUI arrests in California behind them,

Fletchner said.

“In Sacramento and San Diego, they’ve been able to get 8,000

drivers and 3,500 vehicles home safely,” she said.

Volunteers receive incentives, as well. In many cases, they get

free entry, discounted meals and nonalcoholic beverages from

sponsoring bars and restaurants. The program partners with bars and

restaurants, Fletchner said.

“We seek out sponsorships where restaurants will pay us a fee of

$100 or $200 a month,” she said, noting that the fee is determined by

the group. “One of the criteria we use to determine the fee is when a

bar closes, for example. If they close by 10 p.m., then it may be

$100. The later they close, the more it may be.”

There may not be as many DUI arrests on the logs for Newport and

Huntington beaches, Fletchner said, but that doesn’t mean people

aren’t drinking.

“We picked these towns to pilot our program because we know that

these are party cities,” she said. “We often observe that people who

are arrested for DUI in Santa Ana or Tustin are actually driving from

Newport Beach or Huntington Beach.”

Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman said the Police Department

always encourages designated drivers.

“We always ask that people drink responsibly and use either a taxi

service or a designated driver,” he said.

Such services are offered to the public during the holidays, and

it may be a good idea to provide them year round, he said.