Will valets be encouraged to spy on Americans and judge whether they've had too much to drink?

Boston, MA - City Councilor Rob Consalvo says he decided something needed to be done after a 23-year-old on a scooter was mowed down by a drunken driver in Boston. The driver later said he was "blackout drunk" and couldn't believe that a valet guy actually handed him his car keys.

"I was stunned. I said to myself, 'Yeah, how could he have?' " Consalvo says.

He says it only makes sense that valet workers withhold keys from drivers who appear drunk. "They are literally our last line of defense," Consalvo says. "If not them, who? They are the ones with the cars and the keys. I just think it's a no-brainer."

In Boston, valets have more mixed feelings, and no one more so than Josh Lemay, an executive with Ultimate Parking who, as it turns out, was very close to the 23-year-old who was killed by that drunken driver. The young man babysat Lemay's kids.

"Me personally, I would do anything to avoid that circumstance from occurring ever again," Lemay says. "I mean, he was part of my family."

On the other hand, Lemay says, it's not practical — or fair — to put the onus on valets, who tend to be 18 or 20 years old and, unlike bartenders, are not trained to spot intoxication. They often have only a few seconds of interaction with a driver.

"You're going to have suit after suit after suit," says Dave Andelman of the Restaurant and Business Alliance. He says making valets get more training and more insurance would only drive up parking costs for everyone. And where do you stop, Andelman asks — should we deputize coat checkers to take away drivers' keys?

"You are sending a message to the individual, 'We'll take care of you like a baby,' not, 'You're an adult, and act like an adult,' " Andelman says. "It's not just nanny-state politics — it's crazy politics."
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/22/147064421/should-valets-be-responsible-for-drunk-drivers-too/