Free Limo Rides Home New Year's Eve For New Lenox Residents

NEW LENOX, IL — Four communities in the South Suburbs will be participating again in a New Year's Eve intiative to keep residents safe by keeping drunken drivers off the road. The Safe Ride Home program will offer free limousine rides home — but not to other parties or watering holes — to Mokena, New Lenox, Palos Heights and Tinley Park residents between midnight and 4 a.m. Jan. 1.

How do party-goers take advantage of the program this year? They can call Via Limo at 708-349-7700 during the program's four-hour window New Year's Eve (well, technically New Year's Day), and a driver will pick them up and take them home, no questions asked and no names or money taken, as the annual service likes to tout.

Safe Ride Home started in Orland Park in 1993, but this will be the first year the village won't be participating. Although each of the communties involved with the program helps pay for it, funding does come from other sources, including a grant from the Michael P. Gordon Foundation, which was established to honor the 30-year-old Chicago police officer killed by a drunken driver in 2004.

Safe Ride Home Program

When: Midnight to 4 a.m. Jan. 1

Who Can Use It: Residents of Mokena, New Lenox, Palos Heights and Tinley Park who are

How To Use It: Call Via Limo at 708-349-7700 during the designated hours. People using the program will only be driven home, not to other parties or public establishments.

More Info: Go to the Village of Mokena's website for details.

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