In 2023, black-and-white footage from a Ring camera went viral. In it, a young man and woman walk up to the door of a house. The man holds open the door, and the woman, clutching her phone and what appears to be a McDonald’s Happy Meal, leans into the camera and says, “Mommy, I’m so sorry,” before entering the house.
The man, sporting a Bruce Lee sweatshirt and glasses, gently closes the door behind her, then leans towards the camera and introduces himself:
“Hi, my name is Ronny. I am sober, I drove her home,” he says, adding on his way out, “My girlfriend’s in the car.”
Ronny became an overnight celebrity. The video, uploaded to TikTok on July 11, 2023, currently has 49.4 million views. It made its way to Instagram, Reddit, and even media outlets like Upworthy picked up the story.
“Shout out to all the Ronnies!” wrote one commenter on Instagram.
“Designated drivers are unsung heroes,” wrote another on Reddit. “Excellent dude right here.”
With the spotlight suddenly on him, Ronny took to TikTok to send a message of his own:
“What I’m doing shouldn’t be praised, it should be the normal,” he said.
Why we are praising unsung heroes like Ronny: Sober drivers save lives
Ronny’s video resonated with the world because we’ve all been there—either as the person needing a safe ride, or as the person providing one. And we all know he’s right. Helping someone who is impaired make it home safe should be the norm. Why? Because impaired driving can be fatal.
Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that drivers with a BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) at or above the legal limit of .08 are approximately 4x more likely to crash than drivers with a BAC of zero. At a BAC of .15, drivers are at least 12x more likely to crash than drivers with a BAC of zero.
Drivers with a BAC of .08 are 4x more likely to crash than a sober driver.
The results of driving with a high BAC are devastating. Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for about 30 percent of all fatalities nationwide (NHTSA, 2023). It’s one of the leading causes of fatal crashes in the United States, alongside speeding and distracted driving.
In 2023, 12,429 people were killed in alcohol-impaired related crashes.
“Every day, about 34 people in the United States are killed in drunk-driving crashes,” NHTSA reports. “That’s one person every 42 minutes.”
Here in Idaho in 2023, 105 people were killed in crashes that involved impaired driving—38% of the total fatalities in our state. To put that into perspective: that’s two people killed every week due to impaired driving in Idaho—deaths that could have been prevented with a sober ride home.
This is why we celebrate the unsung heroes.
There are unsung heroes, like Ronny, who save lives every night. More than just designated drivers, these heroes are anyone who helps others get home safe:
— your DD friend who doesn’t drink for the night in order to drive everyone home
— the Uber driver who pulls up at 2 AM
— the party host who lets you crash on their couch
— the bartender who recognizes when it’s time to stop serving
— the parents who make you feel safe enough to call, and come and pick you up no matter the situation
Every time one of these unsung heroes prevents someone from driving impaired, there is a 33% chance they are saving someone’s life. That’s what makes them heroes.
We’re putting the spotlight on these unsung heroes. Here’s how you can show them some love.
How you can celebrate your designated driver (and other unsung heroes):
Treat your DD to a delicious non-alcoholic drink.
Non-alcoholic (NA) beverages, also called “functional beverages,” are on the rise as more young people embrace the “sober curious” movement and show less interest in drinking alcoho l. Here in Idaho, any local breweries offer their own NA option, such as Sockeye Brewing’s Hop Water. Others make NA drinks their primary product, like Atmos Brewing Co’s Non-Alcoholic Craft Beer or Free Spirits Beverage Company.
Boise-based writer, McKenzie Joyner, did the work for you and put together a guide: The Best Non-Alcoholic Beverages in Idaho. It features everything from “temperance cocktails” at The Lively in Boise, to grilled, smoky pineapple NA cocktails at Amano in Caldwell, to immunity boosting beverages from Erth Beverage Co. in Garden City. Next time you’re out on the town, treat your DD to a delicious NA drink!
Be a 5-star Uber passenger.
If your group is opting for rideshare as your sober ride, there is an easy way to celebrate your unsung hero: be a phenomenal passenger.
Did you know rideshare drivers rate you, too? We once heard a father give his daughter this advice: “Before you date a guy, look at his Uber rating. If it’s a 4.8 or lower, he’s out.” (For reference, the best possible is a 5.0.)
Uber Newsroom produced their own guide on how to be a 5-star passenger, with five easy tips:
- Pack it in, pack it out. Don’t leave a mess.
- Buckle Up. Not wearing your seatbelt puts the driver at greater risk of injury in a crash. (Plus, it’s much safer for you, of course.)
- Be ready. Don’t make your driver wait.
- Treat everyone and everything with respect. Enough said.
- Don’t slam the door! Drivers have consistently cited door slams as a reason they deduct stars.
Respect your bartender.
Bartenders know the signs: slurring words, trouble with motor skills, shouting at a friend 6 inches away, overconfidence during karaoke. These are all indicators to stop serving. To avoid agitation, BASSET (Beverage Alcohol Seller Server Training) suggests saying something in the first person, like “I can’t serve you anymore.”
If your bartender says this to you, take their word for it. If they ask for your keys and offer to call you a ride, take them up on it! And if you overhear a bartender say this to your friend, help them out; there’s no shame in replacing your friend’s beer with a soda or NA drink.
Thank you to all the bartenders who look out for their customers and help keep people safe!
If you have people in your life who will come get you, no questions asked—thank them.
Too often, teenagers and young drivers will get behind the wheel while impaired because they fear they will get in trouble. In 2023, in Idaho, 11 teen drivers in fatal crashes were alcohol or drug impaired (ITD).
A 2022 survey by AAA found that 82% of teens believe their peers are likely to drive impaired instead of calling a parent or guardian for help because they are afraid of getting in trouble.
To combat this fear, some parents have the conversation with their kids ahead of time, letting them know they can always call.
“One thing we tell our teens is that if they find themselves having made the mistake of drinking with friends or at a party, the worst choice they could make is driving themselves or getting in the car with someone else who’s been drinking,” Britt Rosenthal, Idaho parent and mother of two teens, says. “We’ve made it clear they can always call us, no questions asked. We won’t be mad, and they won’t get in trouble; we’ll just be grateful that in a series of bad decisions, they made one really good one that could save their life.”
To the parents who have that conversation with their kids, thank you. It could be the talk that saves their life. And if you have parents or friends like this, don’t let fear get in the way. Call them if you need them.
Make a plan ahead of time.
Of course, the least stressful option is to have a sober ride locked in ahead of time. Whether it’s a friend, your parents, a designated driver, or a rideshare coming to pick you up, establish the plan before you start drinking, and make sure it’s communicated. And if it’s your turn to be the designated driver, remember—that means you’re the unsung hero of the night. It’s an important, life-saving role!
"Our kids can always call us, no questions asked. We won’t be mad, and they won’t get in trouble. We’ll just be grateful that in a series of bad decisions, they made one really good one that could save their life.”
To the unsung heroes who get us home safe—thank you.
By making a plan ahead of time, treating our DDs with respect, and only driving sober, we can prevent more deaths on the road due to impaired driving. It’s life-saving work. It matters.
Planning a night out this weekend? Put these tips into practice:
- Before you leave: Designate your DD or download a rideshare app ahead of time
- During the night: Buy your DD an NA drink, or two!
- After you get home safe (or the next morning): Text a thank you to your DD
To the “Ronnys” of the world, the patient parents, the watchful bartenders, the reliable rideshare drivers—we see you! Your small acts of responsibility help prevent crashes, preserve families, and protect futures. Thank you.
We want to see your unsung heroes! Tag ShiftIdaho on Instagram with a photo of you and your designated driver, and use the hashtag #ThankYourDD!
