Captain Morgan funds free rides for tipsy drivers on Super Bowl Sunday

By Kyle B. Hansen

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 | 2:08 p.m.

Three weeks after being declared dead, a program to provide free rides home for drinkers on Super Bowl Sunday has been revived, just in time for the big game.

The Designated Drivers Foundation has provided free rides to people on days that see high amounts of drinking -- New Year’s, Super Bowl Sunday, St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo -- for years.

But after declines in donations and a cut in a grant from the state, organizers said last month that the program wouldn’t be offering free rides for Super Bowl Sunday, and likely not for any other upcoming holidays.

But the organization secured a donation Wednesday from an unlikely ally: The Captain Morgan Rum Company.

The company donated $20,000 from the Captain’s First Mate Fund, which supports nonprofit groups that encourage responsible drinking.

Designated Drivers will now be offering free rides from 10 a.m. Sunday to 1 a.m. Monday, and unlike the scaled-back program the foundation offered for New Year’s Eve, drivers can ask to be picked up anywhere in the valley instead of just at participating businesses.

Anyone who wants a ride can call (702) 456-RIDE to request a pickup for the driver and his or her vehicle. Organizers are urging motorists to call for a ride instead of risking a hefty DUI fine – or a deadly accident.

Designated Drivers Inc. operates year-round in both Las Vegas and Phoenix, dispatching two people to pick up customers. One designated driver takes the customer home in their own car while the second driver follows to pick up the first driver when they reach the destination.

The service means people can drink at a bar, casino or party and not have to take a taxi and leave their car behind.

Designated Drivers normally charges $60 for the service, plus a mileage fee, but through donations to its nonprofit arm the company in the past has offered the service for free around the holidays.

But this one donation doesn’t mean free rides will be available for future holidays, CEO Billie Smith said.

“It’s going to be enough to cover us for what we lost on New Year's and Super Bowl Sunday, it’s not going to affect Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick’s Day,” he said.

Smith said he is going to spend the next few months pushing on the resort industry to help the program.

The industry donates thousands of dollars to groups that support anti-drunken driving legislation and support victims, but it doesn't support groups like Designated Drivers focused solely on DUI prevention, Smith said.

“We could prevent more victims if more money went to a program like ours,” Smith said.

Captain Morgan has said it will donate $1 million to charities like Designated Drivers as part of a campaign to get people to post pictures to the company’s Facebook page.