KBTV

“Tow-To-Go”

This holiday season tow trucks throughout the southeast will be transporting a different type of cargo…merry-making revelers who think they are too drunk to drive. It’s all part of a program co-sponsored by AAA Auto Club South and beer maker Anheuser-Busch. One that’s kept thousand of drunk drivers off the roads during days like Cinco de Mayo and Halloween.

“Tow-To-Go” is a program run through AAA. Trucks contracted by the company respond to callers who have had too much to drink and take them and their cars home – free of charge. This service, which operates on holidays with high rates of drunken-driving accidents such as Super Bowl weekend and St. Patrick’s Day and from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve, is open to anyone. You don’t have to be a member. All you do is dial 1-800-AAA-HELP and the tow truck with pick you up. The whole thing is completely confidential.



The program will be celebrating its tenth anniversary next year. Since its inception in 1998, the program has helped keep nearly 7,000 potential drunken drivers off the roads, which the folks at AAA say is saving lives. Alcohol is a factor in almost half of all traffic fatalities, and each year about 16,000 people are killed in alcohol related crashes.

Joanna Newton, who heads up Public and Government Affairs at AAA, says the “Tow-to-go” program continues to grow. It now encompasses all of Florida as well as Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Nashville, Tennessee; and during the holiday season, Knoxville, Tennessee. Despite the success, she wants to remind drivers that this service is meant as a last resort. Before you start drinking come up with a plan to get home.



A final piece of interesting information I came across while doing this piece: People think that New Years Eve is the WORST day for drunk driving accidents, but I came to learn that it’s actually a distant second to Thanksgiving. AAA’s hypothesis is that since Thanksgiving is a family holiday people feel they need to drink more to have fun with their family!

posted by Jason Parsley @ 9:02 PM