Designated driver a great idea that just doesn't workMay. 13, 2006 12:00 AM He's a bit of a dreamer, a guy who had an idea that is, well, brilliant. Logic would tell you that it won't work. Finances would tell you it can't. Yet Greg Murray has gotten more than 300 drunken drivers off the road this year. That's 300 people who didn't run you over. That's 300 people who didn't ruin their lives or someone else's. That's worth something, despite what logic and finances seem to suggest. Murray, 49, has always worked in transportation. For a while, the Tempe man hauled caskets to funeral homes in Las Vegas. All those hours on the road give a man time to think; all those coffins in the back give him something to think about. "Life is short," he tells me. "Man, you'd better do what you want to do because you only have one. You've got one shot, and if you're going to go for it, you might as well do something good." A couple of years ago, Murray came up with an idea. Like a lot of people, he had knocked back a few beers on occasion and pondered whether to call a cab or chance driving. The idea of risking an encounter with the cops didn't appeal, but neither did the idea of leaving his car behind and having to retrieve it the next day. So Desi the Designated Driver was born, a service to get you and your car safely home. It took awhile to develop the rig, not a tow truck but a fancy flatbed that allows him to drive a car right onto it. He started in 2004 and caught the eye of Hensley. The local Anheuser-Busch distributor decided to subsidize Murray's operation to get it off the ground, which allowed him to charge only half the $50 fare. |
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"We saw him and thought, 'You know what, there's something there,' that perhaps this partnership would make a difference," said Doug Yonko, Hensley's vice president of communication. "It has. It's just how do you get it to the next level?" Actually, at this point, it's how do you keep it going. And if you can keep it going, how do you grow it into a fleet of Desis, so people can party all they want, worry free. The plan was for Murray to get additional sponsors as the business grew. The business did grow. By January, Murray was making more than 100 runs a month. But he's a dreamer, not a salesman. Doors don't so easily open for a guy who on the food chain is decidedly small potatoes. MADD wasn't interested, he said, and AAA wouldn't return his call. He tried one of those law firms that advertises its expertise in getting you off the hook for DUI. No luck. Cuts into the client base, I guess. After more than a year, Hensley recently capped its subsidy at $600 a month, forcing Murray to raise his price to $45. The value of safety, it seems, is something less than $45. At $45, he's dying. That's a shame because people who've used his service ( (480) 586-6586) say it works. "It's foolproof," said Alison Gill, a Phoenix bartender. "There is absolutely no reason why anyone should have a DUI." Murray knows he'll never get rich running a designated driving service. For him it's not about getting rich but about offering a solution to a solvable problem. "I could make it work," he said. "Is that so idealistic?" Maybe so, because in a few weeks Murray will be forced to shut down. It's sad. I think of all the people killed by drunks and all the people who shake their heads and say there must be an answer. Well, here's a guy who's got one and no one's buying in. But then, as I said, there's no big money in this. To keep his business going, Murray needs a very special set of sponsors. People who are interested not in making a killing but in preventing one. This information is courtesy of http://www.azcentral.com/ |
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