BOWLING GREEN, OH (Toledo News Now) - Bars and restaurants are getting ready for Tuesday's St. Patrick's Day festivities, and in Bowling Green Safe Communities is ready to get people home safely.
Monday Safe Communities' "Swallow Your Pride, Call for a Ride" campaign was at Bowling Green State University handing out beverage koozies and other items with their number on them to remind those planning to go out for St. Patrick's Day that they have a safe ride home.
Safe Communities had great success on New Year's Eve this year and with so many celebrating St. Patrick's Day they wanted to do it again.
Thanks to a partnership with Thayer Chevy, vans will be running from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ready to take you home if you've been drinking.
The vans will travel up to 10 miles from the downtown area.
Safe Communities Coordinator Sandy Wiechman says they want people to avoid accidents, arrests, or anything related to driving under the influence.
“We're hoping that we have the success that we had at New Year's,” said Wiechman. “We took home 140 people in three hours on New Year's Eve, so we're excited to see what we can do in 12 hours. Because partnering with Bowling Green Police Department, Highway Patrol, Sheriff's Office, BGSU Police Department, we want to make sure that not only are the students safe and the citizens are safe, but the officers are safe as well.”
If you plan to drive yourself, be aware that you may see extra patrol cars on the roads.
In Wood County, the sheriff says there will be at least one extra patrol car.
"It's part of a grant we have from the Department of Public Safety, to have extra deputies out," Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn said.
The deputies will be on the lookout for key signs that a driver might have been drinking.
"People driving at night without their headlights on, people making very wide turns, weaving, running stop signs, running red lights," he said. "Sometimes people will sit at a flashing yellow traffic light, waiting for it to turn green."
The sheriff says if you're headed out to celebrate, make sure you have a sober driver or be prepared to call a cab or other safe ride.
"We want them to know: You want to party, have a great time, that's wonderful. Just don't drink over the limit and get behind the wheel of a car, otherwise, the odds have increased of you coming across a deputy," he said.
If you are out celebrating in Bowling Green Tuesday and you need a ride, call 419-819-5351. For other services offering safe rides home around the Toledo area
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