Free, safe rides offered for New Year's Eve

Press release

Havre Ford is giving free rides to partygoers on New Year’s Eve as part of the Sober & Safe program

For more than two decades, Havre Ford has been providing free rides to partygoers on New Year’s Eve. It’s part of the Sober & Safe campaign, a partnership between Havre Ford, the Hill County DUI Task Force, the Hi-Line Tavern Association, and the Havre Encourages Long Range Prevention Committee.

The goal of the Sober & Safe campaign is to reduce the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities during the holidays, reduce the number of DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) arrests, and remove impaired drivers from vehicles at the start of the evening, rather than the end of the night.

Havre Ford has given several thousand New Year’s rides since the program was first rolled out in 1996.

“We want people to celebrate the New Year and do it safely,” says Steve Steinmetz, general manager at Havre Ford. “We typically give about 300 rides each New Year. It’s a great service that we’re happy we can provide to the community.”

To request a free ride, people can call 265-1700 on New Year’s Eve. The free shuttle service — managed with donated cellphones from Triangle Communication — will take calls between 5 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. The ride service is limited to Havre.