Idea to prevent drinking and driving | Hacker News Reader

Idea to prevent drinking and driving

4 pointsfreeride11 comments

Hopefully this is the right place to post this. If not please let me know a better place.

I have been working on a concept/potential idea to help prevent drinking and driving in my county, Harford County, MD (and potentially elsewhere). I'm currently looking for feedback to see if the idea could gain traction and if it would be used. I am sure there are things I need to clarify on it and possibly change. My goal is to submit it to the county government after I get some statistics from the survey and feedback from here. Please let me know what you guys think of it!

http://freeridemd.com

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I suspect people would be hesitant to let drunks in their car as drunks tend to throw-up. I'd twist this idea to something that is not uncommon in Australia. Often popular late opening bars have mini-buses that drive people home in the last hours or so until closing. Could you pool a few bars to fund (or local council funded) to do a booze bus that does this. Possibly have volunteer drivers but if a few bars chip in you could split costs to keep this low. Possibly have local council allow bars that contribute to this stay open an hour later type deal to incentive funding.

Another problem is people don't like leaving their cars to get the next day. In Sydney we have/had a service where small scooters come and drive you home in your own car (the scooter fits in the car boot): http://www.scooterangels.com.au/ It might be easier to get volunteers for this as you're not putting drunks in your own car + people get their car in the morning. Lie above you might be able to get some bars/council to fund if you want this to be free.

In general I'd expect self driving cars to fix this issue over the next 10 years or so.

Getting a 'FreeRide' vehicle would definitely be on the todo list and that would all come down to funding. I do hope to receive funding from bars/restaurants as well, however I don't want to require it. It is a great idea and something I will be considering as I determine the best location for the trial run!

I hopefully addressed the overnight car issue with my recent update. I have heard some places around here (Ocean City, MD) use the scooter idea, but it might be a little troublesome in rural areas where the travel distance is greater.

I can't wait for automated cars to be on the roads. Less accidents, less traffic, no parking issues, etc. The future is going to be great!

When you expand...In big cities, you'll need to get the drinker's car home. In Los Angeles, parking costs and fines will dwarf the cost of a taxi home and back in the morning if you leave your car. If you park on the street, you also run the risk of being towed if your meter expires or there is no overnight parking.

This is exactly what I am looking for with feedback! Originally this was meant for a rural area where parking isn't usually an issue. However, my first thought to tackle this problem would be to actually have two drivers who ride together. If this situation comes up, the 2nd driver could drive their car home for a fee. This could help fund some of the costs as well. Lastly, this could help keep everyone safer and prevent some of the issues that arose with Uber.

Really good way to prevent drunk driving: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignition_interlock_device

I've also seen breathalyzers in some bars where you can check your BAC before going anywhere.

I agree with this, however one issue is the cost of the interlock. It is about 80 bucks a month from what I can tell. Usually, the only people that I am aware of with the interlock are people that are receiving punishment. I hope to prevent someone getting into that situation to begin with! : )

I think the breathalyzers in the bars is great!

It sounds like an idea everyone would love in place however the major issue I see is the funding section. I don't think it's fair to expect the dui offender to drop a deposit and be expected to pay for all gas and expenses. Do you know how expensive getting a dui is already?

I guess what I was going for was more of an option rather than a requirement. For instance, if a person who has been vetted by a professional and doesn't have an issue, they could do this instead of the interlock. The hope is that rather than helping one person not drink and drive, it would help many people not drink and drive. I agree that it sounds expensive. I am hoping to figure out other ways to receive funding.

Also interesting: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/06/uber-actual...

That is a great article! Just imagine how many more people would choose not to drive if it were free! At least that is my hope!

I've updated the proposal to address a few of the comments so far! I appreciate all the feedback!

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