“One of the major reasons a person feels the need to drink and drive is to get their car home.” – Brian Peters
In 2003, Brian Peters had a conversation with his uncle about why people would risk drinking and driving. For his uncle, taking such risks was a normal part of his job. As a salesman, he was obligated to entertain clients. Often, taking a cab home after such an evening made it difficult for him to get to work the next morning. What people really need is not just a ride home: people need a ride for themselves and their car.
On August 1, 2005, Brian and three friends, Carl Blaske, Justin Leary, and Bob Janisch, started Drink & Drive !ntelligently to provide their clients with rides for both them and their car. The first day, they had two calls. During their first year in business, they averaged about thirty rides a month, mainly in White Bear Lake, MN.
Within the first two years of being in business, DDi developed partnerships with Jack Daniels and Miller to provide ride vouchers to local bars. The vouchers provided bars with an option for their intoxicated patrons: rather than suggesting a cab ride home, and hearing the common reply that the patron needed a car the next day, bars could suggest DDi as a viable alternative. By their second year of operations, DDi was averaging about 120 rides a month. A partnership with O’Gara’s Bar and Grill in St. Paul, MN was crucial to their growth. Bars were very supportive of the service. According to Dan O’Gara, “DDi offers us a great option for our patrons, especially those who drove to our pub intending to drive home . . . but just happened to have too many drinks.”
From its inception, DDi has been committed to raising awareness about the dangers and costs of drunk driving. They have worked with major alcohol and beer distributors, bars, organizations, and inventors to help ensure that intoxicated customers do not drive and make it home safely. Today, they average fifty rides a night on the weekends, and they are the designated driver service of choice for professional sports teams.
Partnership with IntoxBox
DDi has been a partner of IntoxBox since 2010. IntoxBox is a local Minnesota company that has developed the technology to provide self-test breathalyzer kiosks that can be placed in bars or at events. Using a touchscreen user interface, a disposable straw, and a fuel-cell sensor, the kiosk provides an accurate measure of blood alcohol content (BAC) for patrons.
IntoxBox believes there are four steps to lowering the incidence of drunk driving:
- Provide people with accurate information about their current BAC.
- Help people develop awareness about how alcohol affects their bodies.
- Teach people about the consequences of drunk driving through their site ShouldIDrive.org.
- Provide access to a designated driver.
DDi is proud to partner with IntoxBox as their designated driver service of choice in Minnesota. We share their commitment to responsible drinking, and DDi owner, Brian Peters, has testified before the Minnesota Legislature about the importance of legislation to regulate the breathalyzer industry.