One night, a police officer was stalking out a particularly rowdy bar for possible violations of the driving under the influence laws. At closing time, he saw a fellow stumble out of the bar, trip on the curb, and try his keys on five different cars before he found his. Then, sat in the front seat fumbling around with his keys for several minutes. Everyone left the bar and drove off. Finally, he started his engine and began to pull away.
The police officer was waiting for him. He stopped the driver, read him his rights and administered the Breathalyzer test. The results showed a reading of 0.0. The puzzled officer demanded to know how that could be. The driver replied, “Tonight, I’m the Designated Decoy.”
This is one of the jokes surrounding the designated driver program. Rather than drive his friends home, this “decoy” allowed the others to leave without being pulled over.
The Designated Driver Program was an idea that started to get a lot of coverage in the 1980’s. The ultimate goal of these promotions was to reduce drunk driving fatalities.
Comedian Jeff Foxworthy said, “The problem with the designated driver program, it’s not a desirable job, but if you ever get sucked into doing it, have fun with it. At the end of the night, drop them off at the wrong house.”
The designated driver is the individual that is supposed to remain sober, not the guy who is the least drunk. If you are the designated driver do not tempt fate with drinking “just one beer” or having “just one” martini.
If you have been arrested for DUI, you need to immediately contact an attorney who knows the laws in your state.
Call Lambert Law. We can walk you through the next steps to assure the best possible outcome.