Knowing When to Hit Send

As the summer holidays approach, more glasses of beer and wine are poured, more cocktails are shaken and stirred, and more people are deciding whether or not to get behind the wheel after drinking.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some point in their lives. Picture 10 of your closest loved ones. What can you do as a mother, father, brother, sister or friend to protect them?

There’s no excuse for driving drunk. In one year, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics--and those were the ones who got caught. Think of the ones who slipped under the radar and made it home safely. How long will their “luck” hold out?

If you’re drinking you have a responsibility to not drive, and to prevent others who are drinking with you from getting behind the wheel. Even drivers with breath alcohol concentrations below the legal limit are responsible for thousands of fatalities each year. So be the voice of reason and plan ahead:

? Designate a non-drinking driver before any holiday party or celebration begins.
• Take the keys. Don’t let a friend drive drunk.
• Be an awesome host this summer. Remind your guests to designate their sober driver, always offer alcohol-free beverages, and make sure all of you guests leave with a sober driver.

But what can you do if you’re not on the scene? As a mother or father you probably don’t gallivant around the town with your children as their designated driver (unless of course they are too young to drive!). Your adult children might not even live in the same town and you wouldn’t be able to pick them up and give them a safe ride even if you could. Maybe you’ve spent a sleepless night (or 10) worried about how a loved one, out for a night on the town, would get home safely.

You have to be the voice of reason even if you’re not physically present. You might say: “There’s nothing I can do if I’m not there.” But with the “Your Designated Driver On Me” program there’s now a simple solution.

Using innovative phone payment technology, you can easily take away any excuse a loved-one may have for driving drunk. All you have to do is provide the funds for a cab ride home in advance or send the funds by mobile phone when needed to your loved one’s reusable card. They’ll instantly have a way to get home safely. Have you ever tried to bail someone out of jail with a cell phone? You can’t. But now you can prevent them from going to jail in the first place.

You deserve a good night’s sleep knowing your loved ones are safe from a totally preventable, expensive, embarrassing and deadly tragedy. “Your Designated Driver On Me” is a simple solution for protecting everyone.