The experienced Chicago car accident attorneys of Passen & Powell know all to well the often devastating consequences of drunk driving. Each year in America, more than 11,000 people lose their lives in auto accidents caused by an intoxicated driver. In Illinois alone, 248 people had lost their lives in drunken-driving accidents through the opening of December of this year. Based on statistics from years past, experts expect that another 100 to 150 people will lose their lives in Illinois in December.
Fortunately, there is every alternative available for those who wish to enjoy the libations of the holiday season without the risk of drunk driving accidents. Naturally, there are the traditional alternatives: public transportation, cabs, and designated drivers. But now, a new alternative has sprung up in the Chicago area – designated driver services.
These services are ideal for those who are uncomfortable with cabs and public transportation, or who intended to drink less or use a designated driver but find that reality does not live up to their best intentions. Such services are especially ideal for those who find themselves in such a situation, with a car at the bar or party that they will need to use in the morning. And using a designated driver service avoids the problem – and humiliation – of dealing with a cab driver distinctly unhappy to find an intoxicated passenger in his cab.
This is largely because of the very nature of designated driver service. These services use the customer’s own car – thus avoiding the disgruntled cab owner and ensuring that the customer’s car is not left behind.
These services are available both as a scheduled, prearranged service, and as an on-call service for those who find themselves unexpectedly unable to make their way safely home. Depending on the service, the timing, and the distance, they can be hardly more expensive than cab fare.
Our Chicago car accident lawyers welcome this service to the Chicagoland area. We encourage all our friends and readers to take the contact information for one of these services with them as they attend New Year’s festivities. You never know when you will need them, and using them could save lives, including your own.
We also urge all those in the Chicago area to remember that with all the options available, there is no excuse for driving drunk. If you chose to do so, in addition to the threat of injury or death, or the harrowing lifelong knowledge that you have injured or killed others, there are the legal implications to consider. Patrols and checkpoints will be heightened over the next few weeks. Not only could you fact criminal charges, but committed accident lawyers such as we at Passen & Powell stand ready to make drunk drivers pay for the harm they do to others.
There are now over 280 professional designated driver services nationwide. In the Chicago area, some of these Designated driver services include: Be My Designated Driver, (bemydd.com), Paddy Wagon Services of suburban New Lenox (http://www.paddywagons.org/), Booze Crews of DuPage County (http://adsonus.biz/booze-crews/), and U Drink I Drive of Chicago (http://udrinkidrive.com/).
For a free consultation with an experienced injury and wrongful death lawyer at Passen & Powell, call us at (312) 527-4500.
