Delaware Designated Driver Program Sought

Online, February 10, 2012 (Newswire.com) - A proposed designated driver program in southern Delaware is seeking corporate sponsors to help fund the fledgling non-profit group.

A Sussex County woman, Terry Rogers, is forming the Delaware chapter of "Will Be Designated Driver" in order to supplement resources available to help people who have had too much to drink find a safe and sober ride home.

Rogers, whose son and his mother were killed by a drunk driver, said she is starting the chapter in southern Delaware because there are few taxis and no public transportation in the area.

According to the Delaware State Police Annual Traffic Statistical Report, almost 40 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2010 were caused by a drunk driver. With the remoteness of southern Delaware and lack of public transportation, Rogers says the area is perfect for this type of program.

We like to have a little fun at My Improv Traffic School, but the reality is drunk driving is no laughing matter. After distracted driving, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is the number one cause of traffic fatalities around the nation. In rural Delaware, where roads become slick and icy in the winter and drivers are often on desolate rural roads between towns, drunk driving is a recipe for disaster.

Rogers hopes she can have the "Will Be Designated Driver program up and running before Memorial Day weekend. She estimates she needs about $30,000 to get the program started.

The "Will Be Designated Driver" program will offer rides home to drunken drivers for just $2 per mile. For an additional $2 per mile they will have another sober designated driver drive the person's car home as well.

"Will Be Designated Drivers" is a not-for-profit group that will take the drunken person home even if they refuse to pay, just to get them off the road and keep the community safer.

Rogers told a local news affiliate that she would like to eventually roll the program out around the state, but expects that would require as many as 10 vans and up to $1 million.