"designated driver"

Question

In my dictionary it says that designated driver can be translated literally into Spanish as "conductor(a) designad(a)", but I've never heard this used before in Spanish. Does it sound ok? Or would I be better off translating it as something else, or going the long way round and explaining what a "designated driver" is?

As always, any thoughts or comments are very much appreciated.

Gracias

Answer 1

The terms "designated driver" and "designated driving" refer to selecting a person to remain sober, as the driver of a vehicle, while others are allowed to drink to excess (with alcoholic beverages). A designated driver is a person who abstains from alcohol on a social occasion in order to drive his/her companions home safely. It is intended as a safe alternative to driving under the influence. In order to encourage these arrangements, some bar, restaurant and nightclub proprietors will offer free non-alcoholic drinks to designated drivers

Precisely, but in Spain that concept does not exist. Anyone can legally drive your car (if you lend them your keys) as often as they like. - lazarus1907, Jan 27, 2011

Answer 2

In Spain the insurance companies normally say "conductor habitual", but it could be a different thing in a way, because anyone can drive the car apart from the "habitual driver", provided that they have a valid driving license. In Mexico I believe that they translated the term directly from English, so they say "conductor designado" (which is easily understood anyway), and possibly the same applies to other countries.

Gracias, Lazarus! - amy_moreno, Jan 27, 2011

De acuerdo ¿ pero qué pasa cuando el "conductor habitual" es un borracho habitual? - 005faa61, Jan 27, 2011

Answer 3

Here in Mexico, we say:

Conductor designado.

It's perfectly understood:

No puedo beber, gracias: soy el conductor designado.

Gracias Luis Cacheux. :) - amy_moreno, Jan 29, 2011

Answer 4

Yo he escuchado; "No gracias, no beberé hoy. Es que conduzco/manejo yo esta noche."

Sí, me parece que no existe un frase equivalente - hay que explicarlo no más. Gracias usarenzo. :) - amy_moreno, Feb 17, 2011

Answer 5

HI amy, it is true, this is difficult to find here in Spain and to express.

We might say:

Hoy vamos con Pepe en el coche...es quien no va a beber.

I mean, to say: es el conductor asignado or designado sounds really weird.

Ahhhh, thanks Heidita. :) - amy_moreno, Jan 29, 2011

I've never heard "conductor designado" in South America or Spain - maybe it's more common in Central America, especially Mexico...? - amy_moreno, Feb 17, 2011