(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas – Many students may have experienced it; they’ve had a few too many, they’re not sure if they should drive home, and with new laws cracking down hard on drunken driving, they can’t afford a DWI.

In the past, the safest solution has been to leave your car, call a cab and go back to get your car later. But now there’s another alternative to those weird-smelling taxis with their entirely-too-chatty drivers.

Austin’s Designated Driver is a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week driving service that opened in August with the intention of cutting down on drunken driving without leaving customers’ cars.

“If someone can’t operate their vehicle, we’ll pick them up and drive them home in their own car,” said Andice Setzer, a 25-year-old co-founder of the program. “We charge $2.75 a mile, which is a little more than a cab fare. But if it’s a short distance, our price can be about the same or cheaper than a cab.”

Founded by Setzer and her fiance, Aaron Farris, the service operates by sending a two-person team to a customer’s location. One person drives the customer’s vehicle, while the other follows.

“We’re equipped to drive any kind of vehicle you have, standard or automatic,” said Farris. “We’ve even had some RV’s, too.”

If the customer is miles away from where their car is parked or has brought along a lot of friends and doesn’t want to leave them behind, they need not worry, Setzer said.

“There is no pickup fee, no matter how many people came with you in your own car,” she said. “If there are more friends than can fit in your car, they can ride in the following vehicle with the other operator and we can pick you up at a club, for example, and take you to where your car is parked.”

She said the ride to customers’ vehicles is free, as long as they use the service.

Though only in business for about a month, Setzer said the operation is well on its way to being a successful service in the Austin, Texas, area.

“It’s growing, definitely,” she said. “We’ve been open 22 days, and we’ve gone on 22 runs so far. We’ve also acquired six other employees and additional teams that run with us on the weekends.”

Farris and Setzer said they got the idea for Austin’s Designated Driver from their previous jobs in the downtown area, where they both worked in the bar and restaurant industry. From their experiences, they said Austin needed such a service.

“I heard so many people tell me, ‘Well, I would take a cab, but I can’t leave my car behind.’ There’s no excuse for that,” Setzer said.

She said she hopes the new program will catch on and someday be completely free.

“We’re really dedicated to making [the Austin area] a safer community,” she said. “What we’re doing, it’s about saving people’s lives.”

– Kimberly Garza