The small New Jersey town of Evesham Township, which is currently on the path to amass a record-shattering number of drunk driving cases has decided to pair up with popular ride service app, Uber, in a concerted effort to help curb intoxicated locals from getting behind the wheel.
At the moment, Evesham is well on its way to reach 250 DUI arrests during 2015 and perhaps, because of that very dubious distinction, anyone who happens to drink at 19 establishments that serve alcohol can receive a free Uber ride in a program that is funded by donors that happened to start last week.
Evesham Mayor Randy Brown said, “We’re dealing with people who might’ve had too much to drink, so we needed to make it so easy for them to open their iPhone and push a button.”
A pilot program was instituted last September, when town shuttles offered free rides to more than 350 residents. These shuttles assisted in lowering DUI arrests to 8 in September, which was a decline from the montly average of 23 from January to August.
Ana Mahony, who serves as the general manager for Uber New Jersey says, “We began working with Mayor Brown through our national partner, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and realized it was the perfect opportunity to use our technology to help take drunk drivers off the road.”
Uber is currently testing the pilot locally but are contemplating working with other towns to create the same kind of partnership.
(Via Reuters)
