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CHARLOTTE – With New Year's Eve quickly approaching, the founder of the group Designated Driver Assistance is offering to drive people around the Charlotte area safely. He hopes it will help him turn his small organization into a full-fledged nonprofit.

Andre Martin started the group after losing three friends to drunken driving accidents. He says New Year's Eve is a perfect time to kick-start what he hopes will become a nonprofit organization. For now, it will just serve Mecklenburg County and the surrounding area.

The group is asking for $15 per person, and he or his partner will be their designated driver.

“We're going to expand and make it into something really big,” Martin said. “Thursday through Monday type of operation, year round. We're trying to save lives, not just during the holidays, but every day.”

Martin's efforts come as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released new drunken driving statistics that say more than 11,700 people died last year in alcohol-related crashes, down seven percent from 2007. In North Carolina, the 423 people who died marked a 12.5 percent decrease.

But U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood says that's still too many.

“If you feel a little bit of a buzz, don't get behind the wheel,” he said.

Martin hopes people take that advice and take advantage of his offer to let someone sober do the driving.

He says he's still trying to obtain the necessary rants to become an official nonprofit organization. People looking for a designated driver can call (704) 907-5293 or (919) 440-8361. He said he won't turn anyone away if they don't have the money to pay for the ride.