This St. Patrick's Day, being a designated driver gets you more than just a carful of loudmouths.
To curb drunken driving, Spartans Against Drunk Driving, or SADD, and the East Lansing Police Department are teaming up to persuade students to find or become designated drivers.
Students can receive a free T-shirt from local bars if they present a coupon from today's edition of The State News.
It entitles the wearer to a variety of things such as free soft drinks, appetizers and cover at some participating East Lansing bars.
"This is important because everyone can have a good time and be safe," SADD President Amy Gnotek said. "We want to reward people for planning ahead and being safe and responsible if they choose to drink."
The green T-shirts display the slogan "Kiss me I'm sober" and feature 16 participating bars and restaurants, which include Crunchy's, 254 W. Grand River Ave., Harper's Restaurant and Brewpub, 131 Albert Ave. and P.T. O'Malley's, 210 Abbott Road.
The force behind the initiative stems from a fatal car accident that occurred two years ago during St. Patrick's Day on Grand River Avenue near Hagadorn Road.
"The drunk driver was going 80 mph with his headlights out on the wrong side of the road and killed a family man on the way to work in the morning," East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert said. "That's the whole thing that we want to prevent. We want everyone to be alive on March 18th."
Even though SADD and the East Lansing police have issued warnings about the seriousness of drunken driving, the people out drinking are the ones who must remember to act responsibly, even if they plan on getting wasted, 2006 graduate Kristen Owens said.
"The first thing on students' minds is to go out and get drunk on some green beer," she said.
Owens plans on walking to bars throughout Saturday.
"No keys for me," she said. "I'm not getting behind the wheel of an automobile."
Other sponsors of the initiative include the East Lansing Responsible Hospitality Council and The State News.
"This is the first year trying this kind of thing, and I hope it starts a movement toward a safer, more responsible campus community," Gnotek said.
