Designate-A-Driver is a Ride Students Won't Forget

Last November, Designate-A-Driver took its maiden voyage from to East Greenwich. The vessel, a coach bus, carried priceless cargo: students.

In return for riding more comfortably to its game in a coach bus, rather than a regular school bus, the Rogers varsity football team watched a 12-minute safety video regarding a victim of drunk driving on the way home.

“That trip was a complete success by all accounts,” Christopher Gray, Founder and President of Designate-a-Driver, said.  “Every student respectfully focused on what Coach Newsome and I had to say after the game and then attentively watched the brief safety video.”

DAD aims to provide alcohol education for high school clubs and teams while transporting them to and from after school activities. 

“Occasionally replacing the “yellow bus” for secondary travel. . .can help educate our young adult passengers on the dangers of underage drinking and the permanent damage which can be caused by drunk and reckless driving,” Gray said to the Newport School Committee late last year. “At the same time, we can help alleviate some of the after-school travel expenses which are a heavy burden on school budgets; and a major contributing factor to the elimination of some essential after-school programs.”

Drunk Driving Sukz

Gray said he saw a Tom Brokaw special report in 2004 about a Boston police officer being struck and killed by a drunk driver.

“I had a 4-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter at the time and all I thought about that night was, ‘How can I help?'”

Gray originally came up with the slogan “Drunk Driving Sukz,” trademarked it, and printed it on t-shirts.  Under the slogan he printed “Take the keys,” to raise awareness of drunk driving.

“It was right before Christmas and I wanted to change 'Take the Keys' to something more appropriate. So that is when I came up with 'Drunk Driving Sukz' – 'Designate A Driver,'" Gray said in an email.

Gray said the name jumped out at him when he realized it formed the acronym DAD, immediately sparking him to contact Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD.

Gray spoke with Gabrielle Abate, the Executive Director for the Rhode Island Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who he said told him there had been several failed attempts to create a “DADD” organization.

According to Gray, MADD could not support his Designate-a-Driver mission because by going into schools and educating students about the dangers of irresponsible alcohol consumption, it was condoning underage drinking.

Gray said he begged to differ, but that he appreciates her honest opinion “to this day.”

“Drunk Driving Sukz” was then put on hold for two reasons. There were road blocks regarding the word “sukz” and how a spelling error in search engine could lead to less-than-desirable websites. Secondly, children, schools and the community “need[ed] an educational, community assistance organization like Designate-A-Driver,” Gray said.

A Foot in the Door

In April 2004, DAD assisted St. George’s High School with a mock drunk driving scene. The simulation was also filmed and distributed for educational use.

Then, in 2009, DAD upped the ante by assisting Middletown High School with a similar crash scene by adding a helicopter flight simulation. Both scenes were “a complete success.”

“I have been trying to raise awareness and funds ever since,” Gray said.

On Feb. 14, DAD presented to the Portsmouth School Committee, who endorsed their program.

Finding the Funds

Gray has been pursuing funding since 2004, but has yet to receive a grant or sponsor since the program is not officially up and running.

In 2010, Gray came up with the “Sponsor a seat for a student” fundraising campaign. A $300 donation was matched by printing the business name and logo on a seat cover placed over bus seats during road trips.

The DAD sponsored bus from Newport to East Greenwich saved the school budget $400, Gray said.

“We feel we can provide each public school on the island at least a dozen paid varsity trips per school year in the future.”