Driver service aims to keep drunks off roadways

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Hoping to keep potential drunken drivers off the road, a new designated driver service is offering rides home for its customers and their cars.

PointZero8, which started giving rides in San Antonio, Texas, in early September, sends two drivers when people call for rides, one to drive the client in the client’s car and the other to follow in another car behind them.

Marc Groleau, a computer video game consultant who started the service, said he used a similar service when he lived in Montreal. He thought of starting PointZero8 when he looked around a bar and noticed lots of professionals who couldn’t afford to be convicted of driving while intoxicated.

Users of the service, which is named for the .08 blood alcohol percentage that is the legal limit for driving, pay annual membership fees and charges for each ride.

Annual memberships cost $60 for students, $150 for a couple and range up to $2,000 for corporate members. For members, rides cost $25 for trips inside a 10-mile radius and $1.50 for each additional mile. Nonmembers can hire a driver for $35 for the first 10 miles and an additional $2 per mile after that.

Alex Cabrera, who bought a corporate membership for his two San Antonio clubs, said he has found that some inebriated patrons are reluctant to take taxis because they don’t want to abandon their cars.

Drunken drivers were involved in 1,224 deaths in Texas last year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Amy George, the national communications manager for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said there are programs similar to PointZero8 in cities such as Los Angeles and New York.

Topics Personal Auto

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