For those who want to avoid convictions for driving while intoxicated, Sober Dudes are standing by.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in the past few weeks, Bend resident Michael Dahl and some friends have been driving inebriated people home from bars, inside customers’ own vehicles.

For a fee, and after signing a liability waiver, a customer receives a bottle of water and a ride home from Sober Dudes without having to worry about retrieving the car in the morning. Along the way, flavored water and snacks are available for purchase, too.

Once passengers arrive at their destination, the driver hops into a company chase car that follows close behind, and the two Sober Dudes return to downtown Bend or downtown Redmond in search of their next customers.

Beyond preventing crashes, Dahl, the owner of the company, said Sober Dudes is all about providing a positive experience.

“You’re in the comfort of your own car,” Dahl said. “We want to make you feel comfortable. It’s your music. You’re in your car the entire time.”

Such a system precludes the trouble of having to clean up messes that can occur when transporting drunk passengers.

“It’s their own car, so that kind of leaves (out) that element,” he said. “The next morning, they’re going to have to deal with that on their own.”

And if a driver finds himself or herself in a situation he or she considers inappropriate during the trip, he or she just steps out of the passenger’s vehicle and gets into the chase car, at which point responsibility falls to the passenger.

“You don’t know what someone’s going to do if they have too much to drink,” Dahl said. “I don’t want them in that situation.”

So far, Dahl said there haven’t been any sticky situations.

City of Bend officials are looking into whether the business’ operations would fall under the definition of a taxicab, said Lt. Ken Stenkamp of the Bend Police Department.

Dahl said Sober Dudes’ city business license is sufficient.

“We’re not a taxi service,” he said. “We’re a designated-driver service.”

Dahl, 30, is a North Dakota native who worked for T-Mobile in Colorado before being transferred to the company’s Redmond call center. He was laid off in March, and since then, he said, he has put Sober Dudes into high gear.

He said he’d like to see the company find a downtown Bend location to lease as its headquarters, establish a standardized fleet of Sober Dudes vehicles and expand to several other cities in the Pacific Northwest.

Q: Would you ever give a free ride?

A: Absolutely. We’re never going to turn down anyone for anything. I mean, if someone calls and says, Hey, I’ve got something going on, maybe it’s that one time where, hey, I can’t pay you this time, because of X, Y, Z. We look at every situation.

Q: What do you do if I’m in my car and you’re driving me, and I throw up on you?

A: I hope that situation doesn’t happen. But I’m guessing my drivers will just take it with a grain of salt, and … you have to understand that the type of driver that we have … are very fun and outgoing, very laid-back, you know? I don’t foresee any of them right now getting upset about it. It’s still their car. We can take the shirts home and wash them. I think it’s just like anything else you would have — you have to take it. Hopefully a client will say, “Hey, I’m getting sick,” and we can pull over for them.

Q: Do you know of any other designated-driver services in the country?

A: Oh, yeah. … The thing that we pride ourselves on is, you know, the snacks. … (Not every designated driving service does that.)

Q: Can people drink alcohol in their cars?

A: No. It’s just like any other laws — no open container. We have rules that everybody has to have a seat belt, so you can’t just pile in six to seven of your friends. You’ve got to make sure everyone has a seat belt. We abide by all laws.

The basics

What: Sober Dudes LLC

Where: Available in Bend and Redmond

Employees: Eight

Phone: 541-636-0101

Website: soberdudes.com