FORT CARSON -- A night on the town, a few too many drinks and a series of bad choices can lead to a career-ending charge of drunken driving, but there is a service that can prevent that DUI.
Designated Driver of Colorado Springs offers clients a ride home in their own car. The service is available Thursday-Saturday from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. by calling 719-650-3450.
"People will justify drinking and driving because they want to have their vehicles the next morning. This way we feel like we've taken away that excuse," said Nonie Rispin, executive director of Designated Driver.
Sgt. Mike Harrington, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 169th Fires Artillery Brigade, Colorado Army National Guard, knows the value of the service firsthand.
"I was out one night and had a few too many drinks and told my buddy, 'I don't know how we're getting home tonight.' They came out; they picked us up in our car, took us to our house, and it was free," he said.
Harrington was so impressed with the organization, he started volunteering as a driver.
"I (thought) I should do the whole pay-it-forward thing. I used it, I should volunteer at least once," he said. "I liked what I did, so I just kept (volunteering)."
So far, Harrington has volunteered more than 300 hours as a designated driver.
The service is free, but tips for drivers are suggested, and members of the military can be picked up and dropped off anywhere in the service area between Gleneagle and Fountain, Manitou Springs and Marksheffel Road.
Civilians must be at a designated sponsor location in order to be picked up. A list of sponsoring locations is on the website, http://www.noduicosprings.com.
"As long as our military friends are in that service area, they can be at a sponsoring location, a nonsponsoring location, a house party, a parking lot. They can call from the side of the road, and we're going to come pick them up," Rispin said.
Spc. Danielle DeArmond, 183rd Maintenance Company, 68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 43rd Sustainment Brigade, has been volunteering for about 18 months.
"The community does a lot for us. They take care of us, so I wanted to find a way to give back to them," she said. "To be able to go out, have a good time and be responsible and not have to worry about how (you're) going to get your car home -- it's amazing to me that more people don't know about it and participate in it."
More than 1,200 people have volunteered as drivers for the program since 2009, and about 95 percent of those volunteers are active-duty military, mostly Soldiers.
"I always tell folks when they call and ask us for a ride home, chances are they have a fellow Soldier driving them home," Rispin said.
About 18,000 rides have been given, more than two-thirds of them to servicemembers or their Families.
"Going out the gate, every time I see those DUI numbers for the fiscal year, it kind of frustrates me," Harrington said. "There's no reason that a Soldier or Family member should get a DUI."
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