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Be My DD Will Drive You Home: Chauffeurs for hire can keep revelers out of traffic, out of danger

Date Posted: Mon, May 9 2011, Las Vegas Business Press - Las Vegas, NV
Chauffeurs for hire can keep revelers out of traffic, out of danger

BY LAURA EMERSON

In a city where alcohol flows freely 24 hours a day and cabs are commandeered by Strip tourists, drunken driving is dangerously common. But a business that just started operating in the valley aims to help locals get home safely.

Dryver, a company that's expanding nationwide, recently added Southern Nevada to its service markets.

The company operates through a national call center based in Cincinnati that dispatches designated drivers once an order is placed by telephone. Two services are available. The first is a reserved driver. A chauffeur picks up a customer and drives the customer's personal car for the evening. Reserved drivers cost $35 per hour.

The second service is to request a driver on demand. This costs $75, plus $2.95 per mile for the first 10 miles. Each mile thereafter is $1.50.

"I believe those fees are certainly reasonable, considering a first-time misdemeanor for a DUI costs approximately $13,000," said Sandy Heverly, executive director and victim advocate for Stop DUI.

Sixteen taxicab companies operate in the Las Vegas Valley. All charge $3.30 to start the taximeter. Each additional mile costs $2.40. Waiting time per hour costs $30.

Be My DD, which was founded in March 2010, employs 40 to 50 drivers in each region it serves.

"These kinds of services are welcome and very much appreciated," Heverly said. "We know that people drive drunk 87 times before they're caught the first time."

Heverly said that more than 20,000 people were arrested for driving drunk in Nevada last year, and about 75 percent of those cases originated in Clark County.

"Nationwide, a person is killed every 48 minutes," Heverly said. "And, a person is injured every minute of every day in an alcohol-related crash."

At press time, Be My DD's service was available in 14 states, and co-owner Alexa Milkovich said she plans to operate nationwide by year's end. She plans to add populated areas first, then branch out. Markets already carrying the service include Chicago, Miami, Dallas and Houston.

When new locations open, Milkovich checks prospective drivers' backgrounds before hiring them. Milkovich requires drivers to have no more than four points on their driving records, have no prior drunken-driving stops, have no felonies and not be registered sex offenders. Milkovich also must obtain umbrella insurance on the employed drivers for each state.

"I think it's kind of a noble service," Milkovich said. "We want to save lives and create jobs at the same time."

Contact reporter Laura Emerson at lemerson@lvbusinesspress.com or 380-4588.

WHERE TO CALL

To reserve a Be My DD driver, call 877-823-6933. Dryver accepts credit cards, but needs a credit card to hold every reservation.