New Year's programs keep drunk drivers off the road

Local community businesses and establishments will work together to offer transportation options for people who will be drinking and moving about the city New Year’s Eve.

The goal, organizers said, is to keep drunk drivers off the streets and everyone safe.

Havre Police Chief Gabe Matosich said that last New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day, officers made two driving under the influence arrests. He credits that low number to the programs available, as well as extra patrols. Matosich said the police department is not holding back this New Year’s Eve.

“We’ll pretty much bring everyone in to help with that,” he said.

Starting at 5 p.m. Dec. 31, programs such as Havre Ford’s Home Free Program will provide rides to anyone who asks for one. The Havre Ford program can be reached at 265-1700.

It’s about getting everybody where they need to go and keeping the roads safe, Havre Ford General Manager Charlie Steinmetz said Monday.

Steinmetz said dispatchers will work, along with three or four drivers, until 2:30 a.m. New Year’s Day. The boundaries, he added, are “pretty much Havre.”

Another program intended to help keep drunk drivers off the road makes designated drivers the primary focus.

The Designated Driver Program, sponsored by the Hi-Line Tavern Association, rewards sober drivers, who give their friends rides, with free, nonalcoholic beverages from the participating bars.

The way it works, Eagles Club manager Tom Farnham said, is the designated driver will ask for a card to fill out at the bar. That cardholder will be served free beverages. If cardholders drive their friends to another bar, they will most likely be able to get another card at the next bar, assuming that bar is participating.

Along with the free beverages, the designated driver will have their name put in a drawing, making them eligible to win $50 or $500.

Every month, the Hi-line Tavern Association has a meeting, and during that meeting, two names of people who’ve signed up as designated drivers are drawn, and each wins $50. The program is an all-year program.

The $500 reward will be drawn at the  Hi-line Tavern Association annual banquet.