State Newspaper

Most people who sit behind the wheel of a car after having "one too many" have a nagging fear. It's not their personal safety they worry about. They dread a confrontation with the law. The consequences financially and emotionally -- can be devastating..
Henry Hilley of Irmo, the founder of Designated Driver Inc., can provide such drivers an invaluable, if not life saving service. He says.
For a donation, 'small or large, Hilley will make sure the drivers and their cars get home safely in one piece, sans an arrest.
"This is a one-man crusade right now," admits the 46 year-old Navy veteran, who recalls the personal nightmare of being stopped one night after having had "one too many."
Evangelical calling. A stocky, straight-talking owner of a used ear lot, the "reformed" Hilley says the motive behind his part-time business is not money.
He has averaged only about eight calls a week and slept pretty fitfully since instituting the (fully insured and bonded) operation.

Henry Hilley of Irmo the founder of DESIGNATED DRIVER™ Inc., can provide drivers who drink an invaluable, if not life-saving, service, he says. For a donation, "small or large'' Hilley will make sure the drivers and their cars get home safely in one piece, sans an arrest.

Top

two months ago.
The donations have range from "nothing" to one lone $100 bill. But Hilley has an evangelical fervor about the correctness of his calling
"My goal, by the end of the century, "he says" is to cut deaths by drunk drivers in America in half. After that, with the help of others across the country, I think we could virtually eliminate DUIs."
Hilley's "limousine" would never make the cover of Gentleman's Quarterly. It's a garish looking orange "78 Dodge Colt, the license plate of which reads 'DRUNK.'
The hood ornament is a rubber giraffe: 'It makes people take notice -- that's the whole idea of the car.' A printed sign also reads, Than a Taxicab, a DUI or Someone's Death!"
Eternal vigilance To alert Midlands tipplers to his service, Hilley has placed business cards and signs at

area bars, most of them in St.
Andrews. From 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., Hilley catnaps on a couch in his office, waiting for the calls. Some nights they come in bunches; sometimes, not at New Year's Eve. he had calls more than he and a friend who drives the customer car home could handle. His best customer, Hilley Says, is "a man who has called me over 20 times. He's already had 4 DUIs; he's finally learned his lesson.' Harold Watson, the executive director of the S.C. Chapter of MADD, says he supports what Hilley is doing, especially as he's legally constituted. "We support him, Watson Says, "We've always encouraged people drink to take advantage of a safe-drive, designated-driver Service " Eternal vigilance is the price of a sober-driving society, Hilley says, paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson's observation on liberty. But vigilance must not be America's strong point, he says, or Jefferson have cautioned us about it in the first place. Hilley's Designated Driver number is 318-4663.

Bill McDonald's column appears every Thursday and Sunday in The State. Call him at 771-8386 to tell him about interesting Local people.