Designated driver services booming in big cities_美文

Designated driver services booming in big cities

Wang Wei, manager of Beijing Luantai, which provides driver training, car rental and designated driving services, said, "We received about 80 orders to chauffeur drunken passengers every day in the first four months of this year, an increase of more than 40 percent from last year."

Many hotels and entertainment venues have also cooperated with companies that provide designated driver services.

"At least seven or eight of our customers ask us to call the designated driver company to arrange drivers for them every night," said Wang Jianbin, service director of a branch of Partyworld in Beijing's Chaoyang district. "Most of our customers come in groups, and sometimes they designate someone to be the driver, who does not drink. This was rarely seen a few years ago."

Despite the surge in companies that provide designated driver services in Chengdu, the business volume registered remains roughly the same as last year, said Chen from the Chengdu Designated Driver Service Association.

"Many of the increased business went to the hundreds of unregistered companies that also provide designated driver services in the city," he said.

Designated driver service is a new sector in China and laws and regulations are absent, Chen said.

Liu Jing, the manager of Changyinwuyou in Beijing, said, "Many problems still exist in the sector. For example, we cannot buy insurance for our designated drivers as there is no such type of insurance in China. So things become thorny, if a car accident happens."