Designated Driver
From AODWiki
Designated Drivers A Designated Driver is someone in a group of people who agrees to not drink any alcohol so the group has a safe and sober ride to their final destination. Having a designated driver only requirement is for people to plan ahead by either selecting a person to not drink an alcoholic beverage or to arrange a safe ride to their final destination. Because drinking under the influence has become such a problem in our country, Designated Driver programs were formed in order to send out drinking and driving prevention messages and give ideas for ways in which communities can offer safe and sober rides. 2 According to the National Highway Traffic Association, impaired driving is a constant problem that will eventually affect one in three Americans during their lifetime. �Nearly forty two thousand people die in motor vehicle crashes each year. Approximately sixteen thousand of these deaths are alcohol related.� 3 However, with having a designated driver or a safe ride home these things can be prevented. Designated Driver Programs Often Community based groups offer Designated Driver programs in order to prevent impaired driving. Combined with strong law enforcement, Designated Driver programs give people helpful information on making good and knowledgeable choices. The idea of these programs is to encourage the idea of designating a sober driver. 3 An alternative to having a Designated Driver is having a Safe Ride. This could be either a taxicab, van shuttle service or something of that sort. Safe Rides offer transportation for people who plan to drink. An important part of Designated Driver programs, is the concept of Safe Ride. This alternative transportation offers safe rides home with those who have consumed an alcohol beverage. Some programs are publicly funded while others are privately funded. 3 Many people however, believe that these programs are wasteful and that instead our communities should be using the money that broadcasts and advertises anti-DUI messages on alternative strategies. According to the Role of Designated Driver Programs in the Prevention of Alcohol-Impaired Driving: A Critical Reassessment, our country should be focusing on more relevant things related to drinking and driving. As part of their strategy, they strongly encourage focus on having more sobriety checkpoints, stricter laws regarding selling alcohol to minors, and having an increase on alcohol taxes. With these measures and alternative strategies, they hope to motivate drivers from drinking under the influence. 2
Designated Driver Program Examples: The California State highway patrol, along with many other state patrols encourage people to not drink and drive by having awareness programs. The slogan, don�t hesitate to designate is often used to promote people to have a safe ride. Just last year, five hundred billboards displayed the Designated Driver Program slogan. 4 The Community Mobilization for the Prevention of Alcohol-Related Injury was another group that undertook a designated driver intervention for young adults, known as �Pick-a-Skipper.' 1 The idea of the program encouraged people to �Pick-a-Skipper' if they were going to go out and drink. The program was held in Australia and got their message out by televising this advertising campaign. The organization then devised a promotion that targeted nightclubs. With these in place, the designated drivers were given free soft drinks for the entire night by the nightclub. This �Picka-Skipper' campaign was successful in persuading a large number of young drinkers, to select a skipper (non drinking driver) to make certain they had a safe ride home. 1 Reference Section 1. Boots, Midford, Kevin, Richard. "�Pick-a-Skipper': an evaluation of a designated driver program to prevent alcohol-related injury in a regional Australian city." Health Promotion International, 14(1999): 337-345.
2. DeJong, William. The Role of Designated Driver Programs in the Prevention of Alcohol-Impaired Driving: A Critical Reassessment [and] Designated Driver Programs. Education Quarterly, 1992.
3. "Introduction to a Designated Driver Program." 26 June 2007 <http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/DesignatedDriver/intro1.html>.
4. "Impaired Driving, Public Awareness Programs." 26 June 2007 <http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/dui_awareness.html>.
