SEATTLE — It took just a few minutes at the Stout bar on Seattle's Capitol Hill to find someone who fits the demographic.
"I'm 30," said Symon Perriman. "I like to go out. I like to drink but I never drink and drive now."
Perriman says he and his friends just book a ride-sharing service.
"You have an Uber where you can just pick up your phone," said Perriman. "The Uber drivers always optimize their time so they're out right at 2 o'clock when things end. There's no reason not to get an Uber anymore."
And Uber admits that's part of its business model.
"We've done a ton of partnerships, locally and nationally," said Brooke Steger, Uber's Pacific Northwest general manager. "With Mothers Against Drunk Driving, locally with the Pierce County DUI Task Force and the Washington State Commission, in order to encourage you to use our platform after you've had a few drinks."
But the most dramatic drop in DUIs might be here on the Eastside. Taxis have never been especially prevalent here. And now ride-share companies, led by Uber, are filling the void.
"I think Uber's played a major part in the reduction of DUIs," said Bellevue defense attorney John Tymczyszyn. "They're down about 25 percent over the last three years."
Incredibly, Tymczyszyn says he has been encouraging would-be clients to call for a ride rather than drive drunk.
"I drive on the same roads as everybody else," Tymczyszyn said. "And if people want to use Uber as a cheap alternative when they're drinking alcohol, I think that's great."
And it's a lot cheaper. He says a DUI prosecution can cost $10,000, even if no one is injured.
But don't cry for DUI attorneys just yet.
He says the number of impaired drivers on marijuana is way up.
Cox Media Group
