Palos Park PD Offering Tipplers Free Rides Home New Year's Eve

PALOS PARK, IL — If you've had too much fun on New Year’s Eve and can’t drive, Palos Park police and cadets will get you home safely — no questions asked. Officers will pick up revelers at bars and private parties and take people directly home, but will not drive you to another gathering or establishment. 2020 was weird enough, don't let that weirdness carry over into 2021.

Rides home will be offered between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. The boundaries are confined to the village of Palos Park, although officers will go a bit beyond the village proper to get somebody home. The service is free, and it’s cheaper than a DUI or hospital stay if you get into a car accident while impaired.

“We want impaired drivers off the road and home safely,” said Dan Polk, commissioner of police. “The costs of the program is minimal, it is an alternate use of resources. Additional police personnel will be on duty for New Year’s Eve anyway.”

Should you find yourself in a situation where you don't think you can drive (you don't have to be staggering, even buzzed driving can cause a person to get arrested for DUI or involved in a tragic accident), call Palos Park police at 708-448-2191, or Chief Joe Miller's cell at 708-259-1035.