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Some partygoers order a driver before ordering drinks

Date Posted: Sun, Dec 5 2010, Chicago Tribune
The excuses that drunken drivers come up with to avoid handing over the car keys to a sober driver run as deep as a bottomless beer keg.

"Trust me, I'll be fine to drive." "I need my car in the morning." "I don't like taxis."

Many of the excuses will translate into accident statistics this holiday season, law enforcement experts say. As of Dec. 2, 248 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes on Illinois roads, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. For all of 2009, there were 373 alcohol-related crash fatalities in the state.

Nationally, more than 11,000 people are killed in alcohol-related crashes each year, accounting for one-third of all motor vehicle crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

But safe, common-sense options are plentiful to avoid driving under the influence and the extra police patrols during the holidays, according to traffic safety experts.

[...]

Diana Soskin, of Buffalo Grove, recently hired a company new to the Chicago area, Be My Designated Driver, to drive her and several girlfriends to an '80s-day cocktail party in Lincolnshire, where popular drinks from that decade ranging from Rum Runners to Sex on the Beach were flowing.

"It wasn't like we got incredibly drunk or anything. But when you are having five or so drinks, it's nice not to think about driving home," said Soskin, 52, an investment manager who heard about Be My Designated Driver (bemydd.com) from her son.