Jefferson City police expect busy night for those drinking and driving

Jefferson City Police Department prepares for the busiest DWI arrest day of the year. Tonight while many are planning on traveling home for the holidays, law enforcement will be out preventing those from driving drunk. Urging those that plan on drinking, to get a designated driver.

“We’ve given 20,000 thousand rides in the past few years and that’s potentially 20,000 thousand lives that could have been saved just because of people’s responsible thinking”, says Andy Fechtel, brand specialist for Fechtel Beverage.

The day before Thanksgiving has become the biggest day of the year for drinking and driving in Jefferson City. People are home for the holiday and seeing old friends before family events the next day. Police will be out patrolling the streets and catching those who make bad decisions.

“With this evening plus the day and night shift over lapping and our traffic unit, I’d say we will have 20 to 25 officer out there, many of whom will be looking for impaired drivers, we’ll be out by the bars doing bar checks, the bottom line is that we don’t want to make any arrests tonight for DWI’s, we want everyone to know that they need to plan this holiday safely so they get home to their loves ones and so they don’t put anyone else in danger”, says Captain Doug Shoemaker with the Jefferson City Police Department.

There’s an option for those who do not already have a designated driver, it’s called the sober driver program and it offers free cab rides.

“We basically fund the cab ride home, up to $10 dollars throughout the area, you can ask your bartender or wait staff at any of the establishments for a ride home, if you want to plan ahead you can always call our office and we’ve got tickets available there as well”, says Fechtel.

Fechtel Beverage says that all you have to do is ask the bar for a sober driver card and simply call a cab.

“We do know for a fact that because of the riders and people taking advantage of it, that potential of not having that person drive while being impaired on the street is obviously much less so we’re all for it clearly”, says Capt. Shoemaker.

Officials say there are only a handful of cabs in Jefferson City, so if you’re planning on taking advantage of the sober driver program, to call before you plan on leaving.

Fechtel Beverage also provides this program all year long and for special holidays like Christmas and New Years.