Tampa DUI Take a Cab or a Tow Truck

"In 2004, the Florida Highway Patrol reported that 33.5 percent of all fatalities caused by car crashes were alcohol related. So far this year, one in four car crashes resulting in death in Leon County were alcohol related, according to the Tallahassee Police Department.

Two programs designed to prevent folks who've had a little too much holiday cheer from getting behind the wheel are helping the statistics drop. The American Automobile Association and Budweiser's Tow to Go dispatches tow trucks to take tipsy car owners and their vehicles home, free of charge. Safe Ride, a service of Yellow Cab and Tri-Eagle Sales, allows bar and restaurant managers to use cabbies as designated drivers from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m.

In the past three years, both programs combined have kept more than 2,500 drunken drivers off the road.The Florida Highway Patrol Preliminary Fatality Report revealed that there were 37 deaths in some 29 crashes over the Thanksgiving weekend, three of which were alcohol related.

"Along with the combination of enforcement and education, the programs certainly do have an impact," said Lt. David Folsom, who supervises TPD's traffic unit. Both initiatives run through New Year's Day."

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