It's Saturday night and the door of a downtown bar opens. A man wanders out, obviously under the influence of a few drinks.

He looks around - up the street, down the street. He shakes his head and takes a few steps, fumbling in his pocket for his keys.

"He's looking for his car," said local taxi business owner Blaine Svetich.

Svetich, of Coeur d'Alene, said it's a scene he has watched unfold time and again since 2008 when he started working in the local taxi industry.

"We'll see this guy and say, 'Hey bud, you need a taxi?'" Svetich said.

Often, the inebriated person will initially resist and say he's going to drive himself home, Svetich said, but then he'll take a few more stumbling steps, and change his mind.

"By the time we get them home, they're passed out, incoherent, they've puked in the car, and these guys were going to drive. They would have, if we weren't there," Svetich said.

Now tipsy people looking to get home after a night of partying won't have another excuse to get behind the wheel. They won't be able to say they don't have money for a cab.

Svetich is forming a nonprofit called "Choose Your Ride" that provides free taxi rides home from the bars.

He already has a fleet of 10 "Choose Your Ride" cars he says will operate from about 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. The vehicles are detailed in a way that reminds drinkers that they have a choice in how they get home: by taxi or police car.

The cars will be out tonight.

Svetich is funding the effort himself, but eventually, when the nonprofit receives its 501(c)(3) tax status, it will accept outside donations.

"I'm pretty sure the bars will get on board," Svetich said. Bartenders, bouncers and bar owners will call for the free rides when they have customers who need help getting home.

Svetich said he has been working on putting this together for two years, and has received help from several local businesses: Cinderella Customs and Restoration, Les Schwab, Auto Paint Plus, Nixon Law Offices and National Bail Bonds.

"This is geared toward zero deaths, zero injuries, zero DUIs," he said. "I'm super-excited. I think we're really going to make a difference."

He had a cousin who got behind the wheel while drunk. He rolled a vehicle and died in the crash, Svetich said.

He said he nearly died himself when he was seriously burned in a fire in 2001, so he considers each day that he's alive a blessing. He said he lost everything when he was burned, and he has worked hard to turn things around.

His wife, Svetlana, a local nail technician, is supportive of the effort.

"We're not in it for the money. We agreed, it doesn't matter where we start or where we end up if it helps one person," Svetich said.

Svetich said he thinks there is enough business out there that the free rides won't hurt his competitors' business, nor will they make a dent in his own.

His regular business - Coeur d'Alene Taxi - will still be providing regular taxi service, and charging for it.

Info: 676-8294.