A number of bar owners in The Woodlands area are ensuring their customers get home safely after a night of drinking through the use of different transportation options and designated driving initiatives.
According to data reports from Montgomery County district attorney’s office, the number of DWI arrests has decreased in Montgomery County since 2012 when it reached a high of 2,300 DWI arrests. Last year, there were about 1,700 DWI arrests in the county.
Sgt. Josh Pullen of the Department of Public Safety highway patrol in The Woodlands said officers are still working hard to curb the number of drunken drivers on the road. DPS officers regularly employ the “No Refusal” program, through which a search warrant can be issued for a person’s blood if he or she refuses a blood or breath test during a traffic stop for suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
“The best thing about it is that it’s about saving lives and keeping people out of jail. We’re out there every night to keep people safe.”
Pullen said he has not seen a drastic increase or decrease in DWI cases and arrests in recent months, but taking part in a designated driving program after a night of drinking would help lower arrests and accidents.
“If we knew hundreds of people were doing that every weekend, that would be great,” Pullen said.
Although there has been a decrease in the number of arrests, bars and restaurants in The Woodlands area are taking steps to keep drunken drivers off the road.
Tewbeleux’s Sports Bar & Grill on Rayford Road is one of the bars in the surrounding area that offers different ride options to customers who have had too much to drink and need to get home.
Manager Kaza Badger said the bar has a fairly new option: Uber drivers are directly on call at the bar at night and give customers a $10 discount when they are picked up from Tewbeleux’s. Uber connects drivers to riders through a phone app, sending a driver who is closest to the location of the customer to pick up and deliver riders to their desired location.
Taxi Jack, a taxi service that is used at the bar up to four times a week to take people home, is also popular.
“Taxi Jack provides a majority of the rides home here,” Badger said. “We also always make sure we have cards here with taxi information and signs posted about calling a cab. Having options like this is absolutely positive.”
Jack Jacobson, Taxi Jack founder and driver, said he is one of the usual driving services called to pick up people from area bars and restaurants at night and said he believes he is saving lives in the process.
“I’ll go visit the bars and restaurants regularly—they’ll call me specifically if someone needs a ride home,” Jacobson said. “The best thing about it is that it’s about saving lives and keeping people out of jail. We’re out there every night to keep people safe.”
The taxi service can also tow a passenger’s car home if needed and takes reservations 24 hours in advance for customers planning a night out.
Bars on the Woodlands Waterway have also taken preventative measures to ensure drunken driving does not occur when customers leave Waterway establishments.
Mark Zientek, owner of The Refuge Bar and Bistro, said the concern over drunken driving is big on the Waterway as a result of the many bars and restaurants in the area, which is why taxis are always on call right outside the bar.
“A couple of years ago there were some bad accidents—like driving the wrong way on the freeway—and I think since then people have become more vigilant and woken up,” Zientek said. “Our staff serves responsibly so [customers] don’t get to a certain point. We make sure people get home safely, even if we have to take them home ourselves.”
The Goose’s Acre, also located on the Waterway, makes an effort to encourage designated driving by giving soft drinks to designated drivers and encouraging customers to take a taxi when leaving the bar.
“The best thing is not having to worry about an accident at 3 a.m.,” said Maria Whiting, assistant manager at The Goose’s Acre. “We also have a lot of taxis frequent this area and who leave their cards with us so we can give them to customers. We make sure to have signs up around the bar as well promoting cab rides.”
