Night out? Hire a driver

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Party-goers in the city are tackling parking woes and drunken driving charges by hiring night-time drivers</span><br /><br />Bangalore''s party set finds that a chauffeur-driven car for the night is just the thing to do. With drunken driving, not enough taxis and other factors at work, some have even chosen to hire a separate driver for night duty.<br /><br />Fashion expert Leena Singh has a driver for day duty. He comes in really early to drop her son to school. "I simply can''t ask him to hang around till late if I have a party to attend," she says. Recently Leena hired another driver who comes in almost every day to drive her to parties in the evenings. "I don''t drive and did not want to depend on my friends to pick me up and drop me," she says. "This way I can arrive and leave when I want to."<br /><br />Art aficionado Anisha Bhandary has a different driver come in at 7 pm and leave around midnight. "If he has to stay on after that, he gets paid over-time. We initially kept him to drive my dad around in the evenings. Dad has a hard day at work and there was no need for him to get stressed out driving at night," she says. Anisha adds that keeping a driver helps with parking problems. "It is unsafe to park your car far away from the venue and then walk alone, especially if you are wearing jewellery".<br /><br />If he feels parking is going to be a problem, party animal MC George tells one of the two live-in drivers he employs to drive him at night. Businessman Kumar Siddana says that having a driver for the night has become a must in the city. "Even if a hotel has valet parking, I would feel better if my car was in the hands of a known driver. Besides I like to have a drink or two when I go out. With the police harassing people at night, keeping a driver is a safe option for those who can afford it. With rash driving and chaotic traffic, I''d rather not drive myself," he says.<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">sangeeta_cavale@indiatimes.com</span></div> </div>