Hopefully in the excitement of planning your night out and looking forward to another five days of class being over, you remembered to designate a driver for the weekend. Not only is it safe, but your DD can also get free nonalcoholic drinks at participating CHEERS establishments.
“[CHEERS was created] 25 years ago, so a little before my time, but it basically started through the Wellness Resource Center here,” Jessica Schlosser, the Missouri CHEERS State Coordinator, says. “It was started as a way to encourage people to be designated drivers for their friends and reward them in a way for looking out for their friends.”
It’s simple. If you’re in a group of two or more, go to one of the 68 restaurants, bars or nightclubs that participate in CHEERS, tell your waiter or waitress you’re the DD and you’ll receive a free nonalcoholic drink. The many CHEERS establishments include Bengal’s Bar & Grill, The Blue Note, Chipotle, DĂ©jĂ Vu and Harpo’s, among others.
“I went to Houlihan’s with my roommates for the basketball game a couple weeks ago,” senior Christine Shirley says. “I just asked the waiter if they gave free drinks to the DD. They definitely had no problem being cooperative and giving me a drink.”
Tobias Epstein, the general manager of Shakespeare’s Pizza, says they do not get asked often about CHEERS but are proud to be a part of the program.
“We chose to become a CHEERS establishment because we flat out thought that it was a great idea,” Tobias says via e-mail. “We pride ourselves in being a responsible business, supportive of our community and of our customers’ well-being. Providing free nonalcoholic beverages to designated drivers is a progressive and proactive way to counter the dangers of drunk driving, and we are proud to participate in the CHEERS program.”
The definition of a designated driver, as found on the CHEERS Web site, is “someone who consumes no alcohol at all – not even one drink.” Jessica admits that there is no way CHEERS establishments can actually know if the DD will be drinking later.
Free nonalcoholic drinks are not the only reason to have a DD. In the state of Missouri, you can face up to six months of jail time, up to $500 worth of fines, a 30-day license suspension with a 60-day restriction time afterward and a $45 license reinstatement fee after your first drunk driving conviction, according to drivinglaws.org. Those fines only continue to increase after each conviction.
Not only will you face these consequences, but you also risk your life by not having a DD. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 11,773 people were killed in crashes where alcohol was a factor in 2008. Junior Alicia Stice believes the CHEERS program is a good way to help lower those statistics.
“I hadn’t heard about it [CHEERS], but if I was at a restaurant that was a part of the program I would definitely use it,” Alicia says. “I think it’s a good way to promote safe driving.”
While CHEERS originated here in Columbia, schools across the country have begun to implement their own similar organizations.
“A few years ago, a grad student in our department had a brother at Ole Miss, and he wanted to start a CHEERS there,” Jessica says. “We aren’t affiliated, but CHEERS is now at schools in Mississippi, Florida and Notre Dame, I believe.”
So the next time you collegiettes™ are out and about, be safe, confirm a DD and save a few bucks on nonalcoholic drinks. We’ll CHEERS to that!