According to AAA, News Year’s Eve is said to be one of the most dangerous holidays of the year on the road, but one company is offering a free service so you can make it to 2019 safe and sound.
AAA is offering free sober rides for NYE eve and police say it’s a great way to start the new year without any regret.
During the holidays, AAA offers free sober rides to anyone, members or non-members, when they’ve had too much to drink.
It just takes a call to the local hotline—800-400-4222.
Local AAA employees like Fredrick Dassler want to make sure people celebrate responsibly.
“We don’t want people to die, we don’t want people to get injured, we don’t want people to get hurt,” said Fredrick Dassler, the insurance business manager at AAA in San Luis Obispo.
Picking a designated driver ahead of time or calling an rider service like Uber or Lyft are all great alternatives if you are ringing in the new year with some drinks.
“We want safety in the community and being able to offer this as an alternative to drinking and driving or driving intoxicated it’s just better across the board,” said Dassler.
Officer Brent Inglehart has seen DUI’s turn from bad to worse and says drinking and driving is never worth it.
“They’re sad for everybody involved. They’re sad for the person who died, they’re sad for the family,” said Inglehart, an officer with the San Luis Obispo Police Department. “It’s just a sad situation because it’s totally preventable.”
He says you definitely don’t want to start the new year with thousands of dollars of fines and a bad driving record.
“Overall I think the DUI’s have gone down as a result of those services that are available to people to get home safely.”
Fake ID usage, domestic disputes and fireworks are also common events police respond to during this holiday.
“We’re not trying to be the party poopers and prevent you from having a good time on NYE, but we want you to do it within the confines of the law and make sure you don’t hurt anybody”
New Year Eve goers in SLO and Santa Barbara counties can hitch a ride with triple until 6 a.m. Tuesday morning.
