Op-ed: When the night doesn’t go as planned: Rethinking the designated driver

Opinion | Guest Op-ed: When the night doesn’t go as planned: Rethinking the designated driver It’s a Thursday evening in Davis Square. A Tufts student meets friends at The Burren, planning to have a drink or two before heading home. More friends arrive; another round is ordered. What was supposed to be a casual evening stretches past midnight. The student realizes that driving home isn’t a safe option. He opens Uber to find that the ride that usually costs $12 is now $47. Meanwhile, his car is parked a block away, he is tired and he wants to go home. The question is no longer whether he planned responsibly; it’s what he should do now. For decades, impaired-driving prevention has rested on sound advice: plan ahead and choose a designated driver. That advice remains essential, but it also assumes the night will unfold as expected. Sometimes people drive somewhere intending to have only one drink and leave unable to drive safely.

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