New Jersey town brings back free Uber rides for drinkers

Washington Township (Gloucester County) is reviving a program intended to reduce drinking and driving called “Washington Township Saves Lives” which offers free Uber rides from bars and restaurants for people who’ve been drinking.

As reported by News 12 New Jersey, the program provides a free Uber ride home to anyone leaving a bar or restaurant, provided their destination is in the same area.

The program was first introduced in 2018 and, according to the township, they saw a 12% decrease in DWI arrests from 2018-19.

Chief of Police Patrick Gurcsik told CBS that no tax dollars are used in the program.

Washington Township Mayor Joann Gattinelli told News 12 that "We still have our police out there enforcing — but to find out that we were able to, to reduce the DWI arrests in Washington Township made us feel really good about being able to put a program like this together in town."

The only requirements are that you have to call from a participating establishment and your destination has to be in Washington Township. The police chief says that the program is “geo-fenced” to the township.

What a great idea, and it’s already shown that it can work to reduce the number of DWIs; knowing that they can get a free ride home would have to make going out on the town more attractive to partiers.

The free Uber rides are available from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on weeknights and until 2 a.m. on weekends.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

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