Lisa Petty for the Dallas Observer
Audio By Carbonatix
Fact: Dallas has many amazing bars, restaurants and concerts. Fact: Dallas could do a hell of a lot better when it comes to overnight parking.
Nobody understands this correlation better than Beth McBride and Carli Seymour. In 2023, McBride’s son and Seymour’s brother, Bobby Dewbre, was hit and killed while crossing the street by a repeat DUI offender. The devastating loss inspired the mother-daughter duo to co-found the Bar Fairies in their home state of Montana. The organization rewards the decision not to drive drunk by placing coffee gift cards on vehicles left overnight at bars and restaurants. Each card also depicts the face and story of a life lost.
“This issue affects so many of us,” says Seymour. “Avoiding DUI fatalities altogether is the goal of the Bar Fairies, not being punitive. I think that’s an important distinction.”
More work to be done
Cut to the present, and the Bar Fairies now boasts 12 active chapters across Montana, Washington, the Midwest, and California; some 3,500 coffee cards have been distributed to date. A few weeks ago, the group went viral with a reel featuring Tim and Kelly, two very cheerful, vest-clad volunteers, on an early-morning run. The subsequent outpouring of support and requests to add new cities was welcome, if overwhelming.
“It felt really surreal,” says Seymour. “It’s so interesting how social media has connected with this idea.”
“It lights a fire in me,” McBride adds. “It shows that people across America are tired of the deaths and life-changing injuries caused by drunk driving — something totally avoidable. It shows that more work needs to be done across the country.”
Which brings us back to Dallas. When we saw the Bar Fairies’ viral video, fresh off a $109 ticket we got for leaving our car in a Bishop Arts District parking lot after an unexpectedly long night. Unfortunately, Bar Fairies have stopped opening new branches while regrouping to meet the growing demand.
Limited options
Nothing comparable to the Bar Fairies exists here in North Texas; instead, we have confusing parking situations that put tipsy patrons in tough positions night after night. Whether it’s the aforementioned expensive penalties (whether city- or private company-inflicted), obnoxious oversized yellow window stickers (yep, have gotten some of those, too), or towing to who-knows-where, the options aren’t great. In fact, as much as it pains us to say so, the city of Austin might have one-upped us through its parking ticket waiver program. Here in the Big D, we only found some outdated holiday sober ride programs (for example).
Until we have Fairies who will surprise us with coffee while incentivizing parking instead of driving impaired, there are always rideshares, designated drivers and public transportation.
We also found a couple of TxDOT programs created in partnership with Uber that offer a credit for a ride from one during specific events and weekends. It’s a start.
