No more Driver’s Seat
The area’s only designated driver service has fallen victim to high gasoline prices. Last week, the owner of The Driver’s Seat said his business was shutting off the lights.
“This is one of the hardest decisions for me as we have made a drastic change in the number of fatalities, injuries and DUI arrest from drinking and driving,” owner Todd Morlen wrote to members of the service. “Missouri alcohol rates have decreased over the past two years which was the first time in the past 10 years. However, over the past two years the State of Missouri has decided not to help fund our program.”
The Driver’s Seat was a nonprofit service that got drinkers and their vehicles home after a night out. Three years ago, Morlen used about $75,000 of his savings to start the service. Ten drivers were available on most nights to drive collapsible scooters to bars, where they’d meet whomever had requested a sober driver. They’d fold up the scooters, put them into the trunk of the person’s car, drive the person home, and then ride the scooter to the next stop. In three years, the service has taken more than 6,200 people home. Customers liked it because they arrived home safely, and their vehicle did, too.
Morlen is looking for a way to restructure the organization to get the service running again. But looking for money is hard these days.
“I understand times are tough for companies as well as individual families,” Morlen wrote. “Choices have to be made whether to purchase or renew a membership, sponsor our program, utilize our service or fill up your gas tank/buy groceries. These are all tough decisions that a lot of small businesses are making today.”
Perhaps they should offer the same service and charge a fee. Continue appeals to private companies and other non-profit groups and continue the cause. Actually expecting the government to fund your business is kind of a irresponsible approach — if you expect your business to survive. Perhaps charge a fee to the bars themselves… They could draw more customers that way.
I’m so sorry to hear that this service is no longer available. I just heard of it a couple months ago when one our adult children told me about it. If this service had been available when our children were in their 20’s (and older) my husband and I would have gladly paid for the service — it would have saved a few “after midnight” calls we received over the years to pick someone up from this place or that. I’m wondering if Mr. Morlen has appealed to organizations like MADD for some support? I’m wondering if various bars and other night spots wouldn’t pay an annual fee to hae this wonderful service available? The yearly fee plus the $30 pick up fee are sure cheaper than costing someone their life.
First of all I would like to thank Elisa Crouch for all of her wonderful work in the past and for publishing this story. To my fellow blogger’s we did charge a membership and ride fee. We have solicited many local businesses and received the same response “that it is not in our budget this year”. The local bars (those who are still open) cannot be solicited because we are a member’s only service. Why? This way we know who we are picking up for insurance and driver safety. Remember, we are driving another person’s car and I have to ensure our drivers safety. Once our driver takes control of a vehicle he/she is responsible for everything inside and outside of the car. i.e. narcotics, expired tags, weapons, headlight/taillight out etc… This is why we have a membership agreement which allows our drivers to take someone home safely without the fear of being robbed or getting arrested. So to my first blog buddy, AKA-Think I’m pretty sure I thought this one out.
Judith, thank you for your kind words and for understanding how our system works. I only wish we could have been there for those “midnight calls”. I have solicited MADD and the only thing they can do is hand out information and help support our program. They have been a GREAT supporter and we wish them the best.
Any additional comments/suggestions are welcome as we will try to work towards keeping our program available to the community. I would like to thank all of our members for their commitment to saving lives and being proactive. You are the reason we managed to take home over 6,200 people in 2.5 years!!!!!
Todd
I lost my brother and two friends to drunk driving, so I have always been a strong supporter of not drinking and driving. I routinely found myself to be the guy trying to talk people out of drinking and driving and did it more often than I feel comfortable talking about. I saw first hand people driving from bars drunk hundreds of times, because they didn’t want to leave their car there overnight. A horrible excuse, but by far the biggest I have come across in my years of night life around the country. When The Drivers Seat opened it’s doors in St Louis, I was so excited to use this service. You got your car home safe and you never had to worry about leaving your car in a bad neighborhood. The Drivers Seat gave me a chance to easily convince people at bars to look into alternatives to “cabbing it”. I always had a stack of The Drivers Seat cards that I would hand out and leave at bars and frequently answered questions about “The Scooter Guy”. I know for a fact that at least 5 of my friends signed up as members after seeing me use the service and honestly thought it would go on for a long time. It saddens me to see such a great service succumb to the woes of this economic slump.
Todd, it’s been a pleasure and I hope that things improve for you guys.
Mr. Morlen,
I do applaud you for your ingenious service, and I do acknowlege that you have put a great deal of energy and thought towards this endeavor. I also hope that the additional attention that you are receiving will generate new streams of revenue for you. In your quote, you imply that one of the main reasons you are shutting down is due to the state of Missouri stopping funding. It is not the state’s fault for being responsible for their money — just as it is not any individual subscriber’s fault for not continuing membership. The State has no obligation to help you, nor should you expect it. As with many small businesses facing these challenges, I am certain that you will find a way to persevere without using the government as a crutch.
Think, I believe you are reading Todd’s quote incorrectly. Todd’s quote is not stating he lost funding, it is stating that the state never helped out in the first place. You’re right, it’s not the state’s responsibility to fund a program like this, but you would think that helping out an organization that lowers DUI’s and DUI-related injuries/deaths would be in their (and the taxpayers) best interest. Free advertisement on the Metro…something.
If you would pay more attention to the way things were run and listen to the drivers more things would have been better.Don’t try to blame the lack of funding as the only reason for this ending.
Its sad that such a nice service can no longer be offered. MU had a free service like that, instead it was buses that drove around the campus at night that could take you anywhere you needed to go in that area. All you had to do was call the driver’s cell phone number that was on the flyer for the service and they’d come get you. Hopefully they’ll be able to get back in business once again…
There are a couple families in St. Louis that depended on the Driver’s Seat for more than a ride home! I hope that Mr. Morlen can pull through this and get the company back open soon.
PS - Sleepy, anyone that was involved in the Driver’s Seat knows who you, that dig at Mr. Morlen was not very mature.
Actually, at least in St Charles there other services that provide just this out come of service, even without a membership being required. I’m sorry to hear of the loss of this service, but there are still other alternatives.
St Charles Yellow Cab for more than 40 years had had drivers that will volunteer to take a customers car home for them, as long as they pay the cab fare for another cab to follow them home, and then return the driver to his own cab. Still a Lot cheaper than a $3,000-$8,000 DUI. Because we have a live dispatcher actually sitting in an office with Caller ID and monitering capabilities, as well as a driver following the customers car home, we can safely handle anyone that has the need without having preplanned for it, or being a member.
We have several customers that regularly use this service from bars, as well as others that occasionly use it to bring or send cars to and from the service centers, and or a hospital.
Other individuals and companies utilize it when they are going out in a limo after work or one of our 10 passenger vehicles as a group to have all of there cars shuttled home from the meeting site, and then the shuttle or additional cabs takes them to there residences after the wedding, Bachelor/ette party, Bar hopping, birthday, Winery etc.. This way the organizer knows for sure no one is going to drive home intocicated, as there car leaves when they are just starting the first drink.
We have many parents or grandparents that have set up charge accounts for there kids and grandkids of drinkingage, teens and even younger. This allows them to just call a cab and sign for it, wether they just need a ride, have been drinking, there ride has been drinking, or they’ve just ended up in an uncomfortable situation they want to get out of. No questions asked, any hour of the day or night, from across town, or even another state the Taxi shows up and safely gets them home. No questions asked. The parents don’t even have to know about it until the bill arrives and the kid is ready to talk about it. Others have agreed not to talk with the kids about it as long as they are doing the safe thing and taking a Cab/Sober Driver home.
Some of these underage kids have used there cab access to get home from afternoon sporting events and such when the friends parent, Parent, etc has been drinking at the game, or is at home to drunk to remember it’s there turn to pick them back up at the mall. Using the Taxi this way keeps the kid from needing to wake up there own parent, or having there parents ban them from being with there friend in the future yet keeps them safe at the same time.
Many have used it to enable them to get to and from a divorced set of parents on the schedule they need irreguardless of the other parent or step parents schedules and drinking habits. Sometimes bringing an intoxicated adult back with them. Or in one case to bond a parent out of jail following a DWI, in another for the intoxicated parents to retrive a child from a Police station without being arrested themselves.
Other young adults that had parents require them to always take a Taxi or sober means home, have grown up to have kids of there own now with accounts, or to still have there own accounts so that even if they have drank all the money in there wallet they still have a safe way home from any bar, friends house, Breakdown, or other location miles and miles away.
Parents and relatives hundreds of miles away will sometimes call us and pay by credit card over the phone, for one of our cabs to retrieve someone that just called them panicked and crying from a Bar, Car Broke down, Relationship Breakup, Police Lockup you name it Drunk or Sober there is always the need for quick, reliable, safe, legal ,transportation and we and others are here to fill it be it 1 mile or 1,000, people with pets, at campsites, with bikes, with wheel chairs. Some even want Birthday dinners or Instant presents bought and delivered!
Taxis everywhere have always provided a sober alternative. Through on call and time calls to take people to the bar, or be sitting in there driveway the next morning to take them to there car. And most companies like ours provide 1,000’s of semi unique transportation and delivery services each week. Anything, Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime.
24 hours a day 365 days a year there is always an alternative to driving drunk, or even partially impared, be it getting your car, you or a loved one home, or having a pack of cigarettes delivered THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR DRIVING EVEN PARTIALLY IMPARED, and no need to drive tired or unlicensed, uninsured. Call a Cab St Charles Yellow Cab cover the Entire St Charles County Area Point to Point, and can do trips ending or originating in St Chareles County with ends anywhere else in the USA.
Every major City and most minor towns have a Taxi available to them just check the yellow pages, Free Cell Phone Directory Assistance 800-373-3411 or from any Cell phone, Land Line or even Pay Phone use the 1-800-Taxi-Cab service to be routed to the closest Fully licensed company anywhere in the US.