AAA ‘Tow To Go’ starts Wednesday, offering people and their cars a free backup ride

If you’re driving to meet up with friends and family for Thanksgiving and you end up having too many drinks to get behind the wheel, AAA wants you to consider its Tow To Go program as a free backup ride.

You don’t have to be a AAA member to use this service. All you have to do is stay within a 10 mile radius.

Guilio Ruocco, or “Rocky” as everyone knows him, has been operating tow trucks at AAA over the past 15 years, and he’s seen his fair share of crashes related to impaired driving.

“Quite frequent, lots of them,” he said, adding that they can be “life-altering.”

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According to the National Highway Safety Administration, in 2019 there were more than 10,142 deaths resulting from crashes involving drivers that were impaired by alcohol. Out of those, 417 occurred during the Thanksgiving holiday.

To prevent more loss of life, starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 24, until 6 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 29, AAA is offering a free ride for you and your car as part of its Tow To Go program. AAA also notes this should be treated as a backup plan.

Here are all the states participating: FL, GA, IA, MI, ND, NE, TN, WI, CO (Denver), NC (Charlotte) and IN (Fort Wayne/South Bend)

The phone number you can call is: (855) 2-TOW-2-GO or (855) 286-9246.

“If you call us, we will be there,” Rocky emphasized.

While wait times can vary, the process to load and unload the car only takes about 30 minutes.

“We don’t call the cops, we don’t let anyone know anything,” Rocky pointed out. “We pick up the car, and we tow it.”

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Tow To Go is around for major holidays. It will be back beginning on Christmas Eve at 6 p.m. until January 3 at 6 a.m. You can check out the full schedule here.

During these celebrations, you might just spot Rocky on the road. He says for him, this is a chance to give back.

“It’s an honest thing to do,” he remarked. “And it helps everybody and saves lives.”

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