METRO DETROIT (WWJ) - Get home safe this NYE: Free rides, vouchers for rideshares offered ahead celebrations in Metro Detroit
Authorities said there are plenty of ride share services, like Uber or Lyft, that Metro Detroiters can use to avoid drinking and driving and Triple A is operating their "Two to Go" program all weekend long in Michigan.
"Over the past two decades, the program has removed more than 25,000 impaired drivers from the road," the auto club said of its program. "It's never safe to drive impaired, so please be sure to plan ahead."
Triple A said tow truck transports will take the vehicle and the driver home or somewhere safe within 10 miles. The rides are free and confidential.
The operation runs now through 6 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.
The auto group said those celebrating the new year are highly encouraged to plan safe rides and choose a designated driver or transportation ahead of time.
The Tow to Go program is not scheduled in advance and is designated as a "safety net" for those that did not plan ahead or whose plans fell through.
Drivers in need of transport can call (855) 2-TOW-2-GO or (855) 286-9246 for help. The auto group mentioned in some cases, other arrangements may be made to get an impaired driver home safely. Michiganders should note that Tow to Go may be unbailable in rural areas or in severe weather.
Local attorney Mike Morse has also joined efforts to keep people who drink too much off the road by giving away vouchers for Uber rides.
"We are trying this campaign because I've been reading statistics that this is one of the worst days of the year for deaths and major injuries and I wanted to try and avoid some of those in the Metro Detroit area," Morse told WWJ's Brooke Allen.
Morse said they began with one thousand vouchers, but they were all claimed within 24 hours of making them public.
"You'd go to the website and there were zero left, so we added another thousand," Morse said. "I'll probably keep adding them until every Metro Detroiter is home safe that night."
Morse added that he was thrilled with how fast the vouchers were going and mentioned that similar campaigns in the past seemed to fail for being too complicated.
"I want them to get home safe, I want them to take me up on the offer and it sure sounds like people are," he said.
The $20 vouchers can be redeemed between 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon and 10 a.m. on New Years Day.