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HE is best known for booze-fuelled rock 'n' roll antics, but now singer Jimmy Barnes has thrown his name behind a New South Wales police offensive against drink driving.
To strengthen his case, the former Cold Chisel frontman, who admits to downing two bottles of vodka a day until he checked into rehab, said he never got behind the wheel after drinking.
"I have a reputation for years of being a fairly hard living sort of bloke," Barnes said today at the launch of Operation Drink Drive I, which starts at midnight tonight and runs to midnight on Saturday.
"I like a drink and I've always been fond of having a good time but, I've got to tell you, from day one I've never ever in my life ever drink drove.
"It's just something I decided. I couldn't live with myself if I'd killed some kid in the street or had a crash in a car and taken away somebody's parents or hurt one of my friends."
Barnes, whose uncle was killed by a drink driver, heads an all-star cast of celebrities police hope will help discourage drink driving.
Other big names to support the program include swimmer Ian Thorpe, cricketer Adam Gilchrist, actor Eric Bana, singer Pete Murray and punk outfit The Living End.
The group calls itself Recording Artists, Actors & Athletes Against Drink Driving (RADD).
Barnes, who said his whole family has struggled with alcohol, said getting caught, breath tested and charged was "the best thing that can happen" to drink drivers.
"That's the good news because that means you're going to be saved," he said.
Barnes said his motivation for getting involved in the campaign was personal.
"People that I've seen in the front rows of my audience ... I've heard that they've died in car crashes," he said.
"My uncle many years ago who was walking home from work on a Thursday and somebody had been in the pub having a few drinks and ran him over – went up on the curb and ran him over."
He urged people planning to drink to decide beforehand who would be the designated driver. Nowadays in Barnes' case, the designated was almost always him.
"I don't drink at all now so normally I'm the designated driver 24 hours a day," he said.
NSW Police said 124 people were killed by drink driving last year.
There were 28,000 people caught drink driving through breath tests, and 436 men and 91 women arrested for drink driving offences.
RADD AUSTRALIA LIMITED ABN 84 111 113 458
Recording Artists, Actors and Athletes Against Drink Driving.
In partnership with the Alcohol Education & Rehabilitation Foundation Ltd - ABN 91 096 854 385