In what promises to be a prelude to a beefed-up effort against drunken drivers in one of the hottest nightspot corridors in the western suburbs, bars and restaurants along 22nd Street and Butterfield Road are going to reward designated drivers on St. Patrick’s Day.
Twenty-eight establishments that sell alcoholic beverages in the nine-mile stretch of Butterfield Road and 22nd Street between the Tri-State Tollway and the North-South Tollway have agreed to take part in creating the designated driver corridor on Wednesday.
The restaurants and taverns in that corridor have agreed to cooperate with the police from Oak Brook, Oakbrook Terrace, Downers Grove and Lombard in promoting the designated driver concept.
In addition, 25 other alcohol-selling businesses elsewhere in those four communities also have agreed to take part in the same program.
“We are using St. Patrick`s Day as a way to get the word to the public, with the help of the businesses,” said Oak Brook Mayor Karen Bushy.
The four communities have banded together in the past on similar endeavors, and have been very successful in halting drinking gimmicks, such as happy hours and ladies nights.
Oak Brook Police Chief James Fleming said that St. Patrick`s Day is only the beginning.
“In a month or two we will begin DUI checkpoints in which cars will be stopped in a roadblock somewhere in the corridor to check for drunken drivers,” Fleming added.
The effort beginning on St. Patrick’s Day calls on the participating watering holes to encourage safe driving by offering complimentary soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages to a designated driver.
Dawn Underhill, Downers Grove administrative assistant, who helped get a pilot designated driver program started in that community last year, said she hopes the project will eventually spread out countywide.
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