The debate over whether sobriety checkpoints should be used to get impaired drivers off the road continues to heat up across the country. Now a new measure in addition to these checkpoints has come up on our radar in recent months. This new debate is over assessing DUI/DWI defendants to determine if these defendants have a drug or alcohol dependence. The idea is to get defendants treatment for dependence thereby reducing the chance they will reoffend.
From the perspective of the National Council of the Prevention of Impaired Driving we have seen the entire country embroiled over similar debates on how to stop the impaired driving epidemic that affects us all. Our approach is a pro-active one, designed to prevent impaired driving before it happens.
The first thing that we must recognize is that accepting treatment must come from within the person that needs the treatment. Performing a criminal background history and urine screen, then forcing someone into treatment to potentially increase the chances of effective treatment seems abstract from our perspective. The goal of public safety does not mandate public treatment.
Anecdotal evidence shows that people drink and drive for two main reasons; dependence is not a primary factor:
People do not want to leave their car behind and it is too expensive and inconvenient to take a taxi, which in many cases is impractical or unavailable. Most people want to keep their car with them, and the inconvenience and liability of leaving their car in a bar or restaurant parking lot, combined with the inconvenience and expense of retrieving it the following morning, simply makes the temptation to drive in an impaired state too great for many people. The less alcohol people perceive that they have consumed may make this decision even more challenging, and increase the likelihood that they will, in fact, drive impaired. "I've only had a few drinks" becomes a logical rationalization for the individual to drive while impaired.
The designated driver concept, though important, has had little to no effect on reducing impaired driving incidents overall. Why? It is impractical in many situations. People are spontaneous. Designated drivers are not. We do not believe that most people consciously plan to drive impaired. We do, however; believe that given a realistic option, people are willing to plan to get home safe without driving impaired.
For these reasons, the NCPID has focused on developing a non-profit social enterprise called SafeRide America over the last 8 years. This program offers three distinct public services giving people access to viable options to driving impaired.
Our flagship service is called the SafeRide Service. It is a professional, well insured, driver-for-hire service that offers to drive people and their cars for them for less than taxi cab fare, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Since we are mission-based, we are able to extend our "pay us later" policy to anyone that cannot afford the service upfront. This "pay us later" policy eliminates cost as an excuse to drive impaired. In most situations, money is not actually a determining factor for impaired driving; keeping the car with the primary driver is.
The way SafeRide Service works is that all of our thoroughly pre-screened drivers work in teams of two people in one car. When requested, one driver will drive an impaired person's car for them while the other driver follows behind as a chase car driver. SafeRide drivers must have a clean driving record, and pass a background check and pre-employment drug screen along with random, ongoing drug screen testing.
To help enable people to be responsible and choose not to drive impaired, we accept advance reservations on-line and over the phone. To address the issues that people are not always sure when they want to be picked up or if they will even need the service, a FLEX-reservation is available that allows a person to book a two hour window of time for pick-up. To engage the reservation they must call an hour before they want to be picked up. There is no fee for changing the reservation, canceling or not calling.
This FLEX-reservation system encourages responsible behavior in people, making it easy for them to plan in-advance of alcohol consumption to ensure they get home safely with their car. We have learned that at 5PM, when someone decides to go somewhere to have drinks, they are typically unsure of when they will be ready to go. We have found that the majority of people understand that drinking leads to less responsible decision making. We find that most people want to be safe and responsible, but once they start drinking, rational and logical decision making is unlikely. The FLEX-reservation is a necessary and viable option for people that want to plan in advance to not drive while impaired.
The cost of SafeRide Service includes a pick-up fee and a charge of $2 per mile plus driver tip. Members pay a $10 pick-up fee. Non-members at sponsoring locations and events pay a $15 pick-up fee. Non-members at non-sponsors pay a $20 Pick-up fee.
The cost to become a member for one year is your age in dollars (30 years old = $30). In addition to half off the pick-up fee, members receive a free SafeRide home on their birthday.
The cost for an on-premise server of alcohol to become a sponsoring location runs a low as $60 a year. Potential sponsors are given three sponsorship levels from which to choose with specific benefits at each level. The goal of the low cost sponsorship is to encourage 100% participation of establishments serving alcohol. We offer other corporate sponsorship opportunities to non-alcohol related businesses as well.
We also address medical impairment during the daytime. Our services are utilized by doctors and dentist offices to assist patients home safely with their car from outpatient procedures. We have one client that has vertigo who will call for service if she has symptoms while driving. Medical personnel also use SafeRide Service after working a 24-30 hour shift to avoid sleep impairment. We often have police officers call us to drive a person and their car home for them so they can avoid arrest or related issues.
In addition, we also rent drivers by the hour through our SafeChauffeur Service. Dedicated teams of drivers are provided for private events and parties through our SafeParty Service. The earned income generated through our social enterprise business model makes this proactive approach a financially self-sustaining one. This allows us to make funds available to those that reach out and ask for our help.