Luxe is a service that allows you to summon a valet to park your car when time or energy is low, something that many people probably won't consider using due to either reluctance to paying for this sort of thing or because they don't live in an area where it just isn't very hard to park for yourself. The name itself screams, "This is a want, not a need" (also, luxury). The service is launching something new called Drive Home in which their valets will drive you up to 50 miles to your own home and in your own car, which is targeted to keeping drunk or otherwise compromised drivers off the road.

Drive Home isn't any more complicated than it sounds. Normally, Luxe's valets will park your car for you and bring it back when you ask. With Drive Home, they park it...where you live. One of the keys to this being logistically feasible, of course, is that your vehicle has to start the evening off in one of Luxe's parking lots, so this is a service for their customers first and foremost.

Either when you park or an hour before you leave, you can let the service know that you'll be wanting help going home. Doing so will cost $25 along with an additional $3 per mile, which is no small price, but the cargo is of course very precious. Compared to Uber or Lyft, Drive Home offers the tremendous advantage of your not needing to hitch another ride to retrieve your car the next day. $1 from each ride will be donated to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Once you are dropped off, your driver will use public transport or, if necessary, an Uber to get themselves back to a Luxe parking lot. Luxe's much-promoted $5 million insurance policy covers the vehicle while their valet drives.

The Wall Street Journal tried it out and found that everything lived up to expectations, though they did worry that drunk decision-makers may really recoil at the price. This might be true, but I have the sense that the kind of person who is willing to pay a valet over their cell phone is probably the sort that isn't afraid to throw some money at a convenient ride home.

To start, Drive Home is only available in San Francisco. While Luxe hasn't spoken to this specifically, if all goes well it should eventually reach its other current and upcoming markets: Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Austin, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston (edit: only one Boston. Sorry, second Boston!).

This is one of those special situations where everyone can win as some people can make money just by keeping the rest of us safe. Here's hoping it goes off without a hitch.

Source: Luxe Blog