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DD's at The Library Bar get a free RADD Library Lemonade | Photo by Ernesto D. Arias via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr
DD's at The Library Bar get a free RADD Library Lemonade | Photo by Ernesto D. Arias via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Downtown Los Angeles may be a public transit mecca, but thousands still drive there to eat, drink and play. Starting next week, a program will encourage at least one person in a group to be the designated driver. And if they do, they can reap, not only the reward of being the good friend and saving lives, but also some free stuff.
The concept is simple. Your with a group of friends at one of the 40 or so participating restaurants or bars and verbally announce to the waiter or bartender that you're the designated driver. If you're at the Broadway Bar, you'll get free soda with refills or one free bottled water. Over at Wurstkuche in the Arts District, you'll receive a complimentary kline of Belgian fries. At Seven Grand, the perk is a free game of pool, and at Casey's Irish Pub, you'll get four free plays on the jukebox.
The program, called RADDinDTLA (remember RADD, the nonprofit behind the "Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk” campaign?), launches on October 14th, which is the night of the monthly Downtown Art Walk, an appropriate night considering the thousands that descend upon the area's bars and restaurants. For the special inaugural event, designated drivers will get wristbands (pick them up at any participating establishment) and enjoy perks special to that night only. Of note will be the signature non-alcoholic cocktail from The Edison, which will be debuting its new non-alcholic cocktail menu (on regular nights, it's free soda).
Fentanyl and other drugs fuel record deaths among people experiencing homelessness in L.A. County. From 2019 to 2021, deaths jumped 70% to more than 2,200 in a single year.
