Too Much Holiday? AAA Has You Covered With 'Tow to Go'

MIAMI (CBSMiami)-- Andy Williams put it best, "It's the most wonderful time of the year". Unless that is until you've had too much to drink at a Christmas or New Year's Eve celebration.

AAA urges drivers to plan ahead for the holiday if they will be out drinking. This means choosing a Designated Driver, staying where you are celebrating, using a cab or ride-sharing service such as Uber or Lyft, or finding another form of sober transportation.

The AAA Auto Club has teamed up with Budweiser to offer their annual 'Tow to Go' program which offers a confidential ride home and tow – both free of charge.

You don't even have to be a AAA member.

The Tow to Go program will provide safe rides home to intoxicated drivers from Friday, December 24th beginning at 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday, January 3rd, 2022.

Triple-A says since its inception in 1998, 'Tow to Go' has kept more than 25,000 drunk drivers off the roads and saved twice as many lives since it was designed to protect everyone on the roads, not just the intoxicated driver.

The number to call is (855) 2-TOW-2-GO or (855) 286-9246.

Important Tow To Go Guidelines:

• It's a confidential local ride within a 10-mile radius to a safe location.
• Passengers are limited to one per vehicle, with face mask/covering, in accordance with established COVID-19 safety protocols. Additional passengers need to make other arrangements
• You can't make an appointment to use the Tow to Go service, it is designed to be used as a last resort so have a designated driver before you have your first drink.
• In some situations, AAA may need to make other arrangements to get an impaired individual a safe ride home.

Approximately one-third of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States involve drunk drivers.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), during the 2019 Christmas and New Year's Day holiday periods, there were more drunk driving related fatalities (210) than during any other holiday period that year across the U.S.