Dec 5, 2007 6:46 pm US/Central
Alternative To DWI: A Ride Home In Your Own Car
(WCCO)
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Police say you should always plan ahead before you drink and know how you're going to get home.
CBS
Minnesota's Department of Public Safety is
starting a big crackdown on drunk drivers. It's concentrating on 15 counties which
are the deadliest for alcohol related crashes.
Hennepin, Ramsey and Anoka Counties
top the list in that order. During the last three years, alcohol has contributed
to the deaths of more than 100 people in those three counties.
The others counties on the list
are: Dakota (4), St.
Louis (5), Stearns (6), Wright (7), Crow Wing (8), Washington (9),
Sherburne (10), Rice (11), Blue Earth (12), Beltrami (13), Cass (14), and
Olmsted (15).
Police say you should always plan
ahead before you drink and know how you're going to get home.
Scott Judd thinks he has the
solution, which he said is an alternative to driving home drunk.
"It's a safe, secure, sober
service," he said. "I know it's
going to make a difference."
He and his business partner started what
they call, DWI Ride Home. It's based on Andover.
Someone dispatches a two-person crew
to pick up whoever has had too much to drink and has called in for a ride. The
crew also picks up the person's vehicle.
"We give you a ride home, in
your car," Judd said.
The company's been around for about
a month.
A ride home costs about what a taxi
ride home costs and far less than what a DWI will cost you, which police estimate
at $18,000, when you factor in court, insurance, and lawyer costs.
More than 400 law enforcement
agencies in Minnesota
are planning extra DWI enforcements in December, especially on weekends.
"Particularly, I'd like to
focus on young males. Do you want to have a bad Holiday
season? Then get a DWI," said Michael Campion, the Minnesota Department of
Public Safety Commissioner.
One in every eight drivers in Minnesota has a DWI on
their record. Judd wants his business to keep that number from going up.
His crews give more than 50 rides
home every night.
"If we could erase that number,
we could definitely make a difference," Judd said. If we would do 1,000 rides a night, 7 days a
week, 365 days a year, I know we could make a difference."
Call 877-DWI-4567 to reach the
company.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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