May 07, 2009 - 05:03 PM

By Jillian Follert

OSHAWA -- Every week, Oshawa's designated driving services get hundreds of impaired drivers -- and their cars - home safely.

But, if a new City bylaw is allowed to take effect, the owners of some companies say they won't be able to keep their cars on the road, which means more drunk drivers could end up behind the wheel.

"We estimate that we stand to lose 80 to 90 per cent of our current driver base with this bylaw," said Glenn Willchuk, speaking on behalf of Keys To Us, DD4U and Home Safe Designated Driving Services Ltd., three companies which he says account for more than half of the designated driving market in Oshawa.

"You will see a significant increase in drunk drivers on the roads."

Last September, council passed a bylaw that would require drivers working for commercial designated-driver services to obtain a $125 annual City licence starting May 1 of this year.

To qualify, drivers would need a class G drivers licence, a criminal background check dated within 30 days of their application and a minimum of $2 million in commercial liability insurance -- which company owners say will cost each driver about $1,250 a year.

Drivers working for companies outside Oshawa would also require a City licence to come into Oshawa to pick up or drop off customers.

Many of the city's designated-driving companies say the costs associated with the new rules will crush them. Keys To Us, DD4U and Home Safe have banded together to fight to bylaw, gathering 450 signatures on a petition.

"What I make works out to about $7.50 an hour on a good night, and I still have to pay my car maintenance and gas and everything," said designated driver Paul Beaumont. "If I was stuck with $1,250 for insurance, plus $120 for the licence, it just wouldn't make any sense. I couldn't afford to do it anymore."

Unlike taxi companies that operate around the clock with full-time drivers, designated driving companies generally operate 12 hours a day, with a small three- or four-hour window of peak activity.

Many of their drivers are retirees or people who have been recently laid off, just trying to make ends meet. They pay their own car maintenance, insurance and gas.

Mr. Willchuk stressed Keys to Us, DD4U and Home Safe don't allow customers to ride in company cars. A designated driver drives the customer home in their own car and is followed by a second designated driver in a "chase" car.

Under this arrangement, he said, customers are willingly giving over care and control of their vehicle to the company, which means the designated drivers are covered by that customer's insurance policy, making the $2 million in additional insurance the City is requesting redundant.

While many are vocally opposed to the new bylaw, some companies think it will make the industry safer.

"It keeps everything above board and honest," said Mack Conway, who owns DD Express. "Yes, it will cost us more ... but I don't care what it costs me to run this business, I'm here to put good, honest drivers on the road."

Council's finance and administration committee voted this week to temporarily suspend enforcement of the new bylaw and send the issue to a public meeting for more feedback.

Council will have final say on that direction at an upcoming meeting, likely May 11 or 19.