I just saw this on "Insomnic with Dave Attell": ScooterMan, a service you can call that sends a sober, fully insured driver to your location to drive you home in your car. The driver arrives on a small scooter that is quickly disassembled, bagged, and stored in the trunk. Someone interviewed on the show said that the cost was about 150% the cost of taking a taxi. What a great idea! Sorry, only available in the Greater London area.
I’m with you, Gary, this idea is brilliant. It is too bad that it is only available in London. Every major metropolitan area in the US needs this service, and I do mean NEEDS!
I would gladly pay the freight to know that both me and my car would make it home safely. Not only that, but I would tattoo it on the wrist of any teen that I had responsibility for.
While I would prefer that people did not drink to excess and drive their vehicles putting themselves and others at risk, I would be happy knowing that this type of service existed to help keep people safe here in the real world.
There is a service (I think more than one) in LA modeled explicitly on this London company. The one I recall from the Sunday Times (Style section, naturally – the one that Marti and I fight over) was called “Home, James!” or something like that and only hires male models or actors, requires them all to dress in mod-cut Balenciaga suits (I can’t believe I remember that), and forbids them to answer to anything but “James”. Apparently the fold-up scooter will fit fine in the trunk of a Mini but a Porsche Boxter is a bit tight, for all of you rich-and-fab nonfamous-ers! Naturally being the Style section there was much speculation about the potential for romantic rendezvous between the “Jameses” and tipsy starlets being driven home from a liquid lunch.