Everyone here at Bald Thoughts and Boarding Area want to wish you a Happy New Year. We hope you have a great time tonight celebrating the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017. However, be careful. If you are drinking, please don’t drink and drive. Instead, consider taking a taxi, public transit, a ridesharing service, or other services designed to keep you safe. Here are 6 ways to get free New Years Eve rides tonight.
In This Post
Please Don’t Drive and Drive
Police will be even more vigilant this weekend in trying to catch drunk drivers and keep everyone safe. Not only will there be more police cars on the road, but there will be many DUI checkpoints around the community.
Where I live in California, you are considered to be driving drunk if you have more than .08% Blood Alcohol Content (BAC). The threshold is even lower if you’re driving professionally as a rideshare driver or if you’re under the age of 21.
According to statistics from MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving):
- Each day, people drive drunk more than 300,000 times, but only 3,200 are arrested.
- Almost half of all drivers who were killed in crashes and tested positive for drugs, also had alcohol in their system.
- About 1/3 of all drivers arrested or convicted of drunk driving are repeat offenders.
- Over 1.1 million drivers were arrested in 2014 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.
- The rate of drunk driving is highest among 26 to 29 year olds (20.7%).
- The average person metabolizes alcohol at the rate of about one drink per hour. (Note from Lee – if you’re smaller than average, it takes even longer!)
- Every day in America, another 27 people die as a result of drunk driving crashes.
- Only time will sober a person up, drinking strong coffe, exercising, or taking a cold shower will not help.
- Every two minutes, a person is injured in a drunk driving crash.
Be a Designated Driver
The easiest way to avoid being cited for a DUI is to avoid drinking altogether. If you’re the Designated Driver, not only will you be safer, so will all of your friends who ride with you. And, you’ll get plenty of blackmail material while watching your friends doing “memorable” antics while they’re drunk. hahaha
There’s even an app for Designated Drivers sponsored by the Sheriff’s Department that helps people find bars that offer free non-alcoholic drinks, food, or other incentives to Designated Drivers. The app is called Designated Driver VIP and it is free on iTunes and Android.
Free New Years Eve rides from Uber
If you don’t have an Uber account, when you use our Uber referral link or enter the code “uberBaldThoughts” in the Uber app, you will get $15 off your first ride. If you have the time, consider using the UberPool option to reduce the cost of your rides and share the ride with someone. And when you’re staying close to your home, this credit is more than enough for free New Years Eve rides.
Free New Years Eve rides from Lyft
If you don’t have a Lyft account, when you use our Lyft referral link or enter the code “LEE1022” in the Lyft app, you will get $10 off your first ride. If you’re staying relatively close to your house, this credit is more than enough for free New Years Eve rides.
Take Public Transportation on New Years Eve
Where I live in Orange County, we don’t have the subway, but we do have buses. The Orange County Transportation Authority buses are offering free rides from 6pm until 2:30am tonight.
In one of my favorite cities, San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Gate, the “Muni will offer fare-free rides on all routes and lines, including waiving the $7-a-pop one-way cable car rides, starting at 8 p.m. Saturday and lasting until 5 a.m. Sunday.”
Google the subway and bus systems in your local area to see what New Years Eve promotions they are running.
Free New Years Eve Tipsy Tows from AAA
This free New Years Eve rides promotion is awesome because you don’t even have to be an AAA member to participate… and your car will be at your home when you wake up in the morning (most likely with a hangover).
Every AAA club is a little different, but the Auto Club of Southern California is providing its free Tipsy Tow service this weekend. The service is available from 6pm until 6am New Years Day.If you’ve been drinking, just call 800-400-4AAA and ask for a free tow. It may take awhile, but a tow truck will eventually take you and your car home. The service is free for the first 7 miles, then there will be a small charge for longer tows. Don’t worry… the cost will be FAR cheaper than the cost of a DUI!!!
If you’ve been drinking, just call 800-400-4AAA and ask for a free tow. It may take awhile, but a tow truck will eventually take you and your car home. The service is free for the first 7 miles, then there will be a small charge for longer tows. Don’t worry… the cost will be FAR cheaper than the cost of a DUI!!!
Call a Taxi, a Friend or a Family Member
Don’t forget these old-school options to get free New Years Eve rides. Although taxis aren’t free, and Uber and Lyft are often the preferred options nowadays, taxis are still very easy and relatively cost-effective way to get around.
And you can always count on friends and family members to bail you out in a pinch. When friends or family pick you up, that’s another free ride option… although you may owe them a huge favor in the future.
Most people won’t be happy to receive a drunken call at 3am asking for a ride home, but I know that I’d get out of bed to help my friends and family in their time of need. It’s way better than getting a collect call from the jail pay phone… or even worse, a knock on the door from the police with the horrible news that something horrible happened.
The Bald Thoughts
I encourage you to celebrate the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 however you like. I’ll be at home with my wife and kids watching cartoons and movies, and maybe playing a couple of board games. If you’ll be out, please consider using one of these 6 ways to get safe, free New Years Eve rides tonight. Enjoy and we’ll see you in 2017!
Featured image courtesy of Automobile Club of Southern California Tipsy Tow.
