Need A Ride Home New Year’s Eve? Call Palos Park Police

PALOS PARK, IL — If you'll be ringing in the new year in Palos Park and drink too much to drive home safely, police are offering FREE rides home throughout the night. Officers will pick up revelers at private parties or bars and take people directly home, but will not drop people off at another gathering or establishment.

Rides will be offered from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. Palos Park police will also be available to check on underage people left at home during this time. Officers will take revelers home, and not to another bar or party.

Should you find yourself in a situation where you don’t think you can get behind the wheel safely (you don’t have be staggering, even buzzed driving can cause a person to get arrested for DUI or involved in a tragic accident), call Palos Park police at 708-448-2191, or Chief Joe Miller’s cell at 708-259-1035.

Officers will come pick you up and take you home, no questions asked and no lectures. They may even sing along with you if you are inclined to break out into song.

“Before you get behind the wheel of your car after you have been drinking, prevent a potential disaster, and simply call us,” Miller said.

Many area police departments have been conducting ongoing holiday DUI patrols and will be adding extra officers on the street on New Year’s Eve, watching for impaired and distracted drivers. Before you head out for a night of partying, make a plan for getting home safely.

If possible, use public transportation on Saturday night. The CTA will be offering FREE rides on trains and buses from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Dec. 31-Jan. 1. Please note that service on Metra’s Southwest line does not run on weekends.