Tow To Go Offers Safe Rides Home Through The New Year

With the holiday party season still in high gear, AAA is doing its part to help keep Tampa Bay area motorists safe. The auto club has once again teamed up with Bud Light to offer safe rides home for impaired drivers and their vehicles.

Tow To Go is a free service that provides rides for impaired motorists and tows for their vehicles. Since the holiday season is a peak time for alcohol-related accidents, AAA announced an extended schedule that keeps the program open through the New Year.

Tow To Go rides are offered at no charge to AAA members and non-members alike. The program’s up and running now through 6 a.m. Jan. 2, 2017.

Since it was launched in 1998, the program has provided rides for more than 24,000 impaired drivers, the program’s website reports. It is offered based on availability, providing those who take part free towing within a 10-mile radius of the pickup location.

There are a few caveats with the program:

• Tow truck drivers can only take a maximum of two people and one vehicle home
• Advance appointments aren’t allowed as holiday revelers are advised to designate a driver and only use the towing service as a last resort
• In some situations a cab might be required or law enforcement might need to be called in to assist in getting an intoxicated motorist home safely

To obtain a ride, call 855-286-9246. The service is also available for other holidays such as Thanksgiving, Labor Day and Independence Day, among others.

To find out more, visit AAA online.

As the busy holiday season continues, the Florida Highway Patrol is also taking part in the Driver Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign. The period of enhanced enforcement began earlier this month and runs through New Year’s Day.

While troopers and other law enforcement officers are always on the look out for impaired drivers, the campaign kicks things up a few notches.

“All uniformed FHP personnel, including those normally assigned to administrative duties, will be patrolling interstates and other major state roads,” the patrol explained in a media release. The patrol’s auxiliary troopers will also volunteer during the campaign to increase the number of eyes on roads throughout the Sunshine State.

“Impaired driving puts drivers, passengers and pedestrians at risk, and each year it claims the lives of too many people,” said Col. Gene Spaulding, FHP’s director. “Be sure to make the right choice this holiday season and drive sober.”

Between Dec. 16, 2014, and Jan. 1, 2015, 20 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes on Florida roads, according to the highway patrol. A total of 288 alcohol-related crashes were logged during that entire period with 20 percent of them occurring on New Year’s Eve. During the period of Dec. 18, 2015, and Jan. 3, 2016, FHP handled 62 DUI-related incidents.

To help keep Florida’s roads safe, the patrol asks motorists to report impaired or aggressive drivers they encounter. The number to call from a cellphone – after safely pulling over – is *FHP or *347.

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