Designated Driver Services Steering Drinkers to Safety

By Jennifer Hewlett | March 21, 2011

The evolution of the cab has come. Those who enjoy a night of drinking can now hire a company to give them rides home in their own car instead of in one of the yellow checkered variety.

Leaders of BeMyDD, or Be My Designated Driver, and RAD, a.k.a. Rent-A-Driver, both say they offer peace of mind and convenience, since patrons don’t have to retrieve their car the next morning.

“Really, the people using it are people who have something to lose,” said Arthur Simanovsky, who launched BeMyDD with his friend Alexa Milkovich last March in Cleveland.

The company now operates in almost 20 cities in Kentucky, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington D.C. In Kentucky, the company serves customers in the Lexington, Louisville and Northern Kentucky areas and has been operating for several months.

Background checks are done on potential drivers.

BeMyDD’s core customer is one who plans ahead and makes reservations with its personal driving service, Simanovsky said. Drivers, dressed in business attire, drive to the customer’s home, drop off their own cars and transport customers to wherever they want to go within a 50-mile radius of Lexington in the customers’ vehicles. A driver will even pick up a customer’s friends, take them all to a destination, then wait for them until they’re ready to return home. The fee is $12.50 an hour.

People use the service for events such as weddings and corporate affairs. Sometimes a couple will use it for an evening out of dinner and drinks, he said.

RAD, a locally owned Lexington, Kentucky business that has been in operation since September 2008, offers a personal driving service from time to time but is primarily a pick-up service. Customers call for rides home after a night out, said Jess Shepherd, who owns the company along with his brother, Bane Shepherd, and Kevin Bailey.

“Most of our rides are for people who’ve gone to bars,” he said. But, he added, “We give customers rides home from Keeneland. We’ve also done afternoon football games.”

RAD asks that customers call at least 20 minutes in advance to give its drivers time to get to them. The drivers work in teams of two. They drive to the customer, one gets into the customer’s vehicle and drives the person home while the other follows.

The company charges a $10 fee, plus $2 per mile. The same rates apply for personal driving service. “At 5 miles, we become less expensive than a taxi,” Shepherd said.

RAD drivers wear yellow neon shirts so that customers can readily see them when they arrive for a pick-up, Shepherd said. RAD has about 15 drivers who will take riders anywhere in Fayette County, he said. RAD will also take riders to destinations in contiguous counties if they make reservations in advance, he said.

“Our customer base is a very regular customer,” he said. “We feel like we’re really doing a good thing for the community. We know there are people driving home drunk and they don’t need to be.”

BeMyDD also has a pick-up service. The fee is $25, plus $2.95 for the first 10 miles, and $1.50 per mile for each mile after that.

BeMyDD’s pick-up service operates like RAD’s in that two drivers go to each location, where one drives the customer’s vehicle and the other trails behind in another car.

Background checks are done on potential drivers, the businesses said.

Both companies also offer transportation for other reasons, but the majority of their customers are people who have been drinking. Most rides are taken at night, particularly weekend nights.

Simanovsky said some firms have even opened corporate accounts with BeMyDD, making it a job perk.

“People are loving it,” said Northern Kentucky’s Bill Moore, who is one of 40 to 50 Lexington-area drivers for BeMyDD. “They don’t have to worry about waiting for a cab or a DUI. You’ve got to understand something about me; I love to drive,” said Moore, whose regular job is as a courier.

Ricky Arnett, the bartender at Dudley’s restaurant, said driving services are great. If a customer gets into trouble after leaving a bar intoxicated, he said, “it can all come back on you and the bar you’re at.”

“It’s a great little service to have,” he said. “I would use them.”

Lexington lawyer Fred Peters, who handles a lot of driving under the influence cases, also complimented the driving services. “Compared to a DUI, it’s got to be a lot cheaper,” he said.

Topics Auto Personal Auto Kentucky

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