Thoughts on designated drivers shared

Dec. 09--Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office Chief Civil Deputy Steven R. Shulman added to recent recommendations for having a designated driver, such as Tipsy Taxi, which will operate every day in Walla Walla and College Place from 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Dec. 14-New Year's Eve.

Steven decided to help out the local program because he's seen a lot of fatal and nonfatal collisions, many involving a driver who had been drinking.

"People have no idea how an arrest for driving under the influence will impact their lives. Besides the cost of court, an attorney, an increase in insurance costs, many drivers run the risk of losing their jobs," he said.

"Then there is the embarrassment of family friends and children finding out about the event. And finally there is the risk of you, a passenger or the driver or passengers of another vehicle being injured or killed. Living with that burden lasts a lifetime."

"If I can help to keep an impaired driver off the road by giving them a ride home, someone will have made the right call. It's far better they make the call to Tipsy Taxi than to a family member asking them to bail them out from jail," he said.

Walla Walla County Traffic Safety Coalition facilitates the all-volunteer Tipsy Taxi, according to Nancy McClenny-Walters, program manager.

To get the service between those dates, call 522-8299.

Etcetera appears in daily and Sunday editions. Annie Charnley Eveland can be reached at [email protected] or afternoons at 526-8313.

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