As the holiday season gets underway, Evesham Township wants its residents to know the Evesham Saves Lives program will continue to be in operation through Jan. 2.
That means Evesham residents who visit establishments in town and enjoy alcoholic beverages between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. can avoid driving while intoxicated by getting a free ride home from private taxi services Uber and BEMYDD, where a pair of drivers will bring home residents and their cars.
As has been the case since the program started, residents who think they’re intoxicated and cannot drive home safely can simply download the Evesham Township mobile app on their smartphone and request a free ride from any alcohol-serving establishment in town to their residence in town.
Chief of Police Christopher Chew said before the program started on Sept. 4, almost 65 percent of DWI arrests in town were Marlton residents.
Chew said when the department interviewed Marlton residents after they were arrested, those residents had a false mindset of thinking that since they were only a few miles from home and taking mostly back roads, they would be safe driving while intoxicated.
“That’s a dangerous way of thinking since where most of our crashes occur is within a couple miles of that driver’s residence,” Chew said.
Now that the Saves Lives program has been in effect for several months, Chew said the number of Marlton residents being arrested for DWI has significantly decreased to the point of hovering below 5 percent of the department’s total DWI arrests.
“When you look at the factors pre and post, it’s amazing,” Chew said.
Mayor Randy Brown said the program has easily surpassed more than 550 people brought home, and it has operated true to the township’s original intent of being funded without the use of any taxpayer dollars.
“Zero taxpayer dollars have been used for this — all donations are from businesses and other entities,” Brown said. “Chief Chew started it off with the first donation by the state highway transportation fund, and since then we’ve had an amazing response locally for our residents that have taken advantage of this.”
Brown said he believes the program has been a success not only because of the concept, but also because of the hard work from those working behind the scenes to ensure the program continues to operate and get people home safely.
“That, to me, is a successful program … not only because of the program itself but because of the players in the program, the way we have worked intricately with the police department in enforcement,” Brown said.
Brown said regardless of political parties or beliefs, the program is ultimately meant to keep residents safe, and so he asks residents to never be ashamed to request a ride.
“Get out locally, spend your money locally, have fun locally, and we’ll get you home. Take an Uber there, and we’ll get you an Uber home for free,” Brown said.
However, for those who don’t heed Brown’s warning, Chew said the ETPD was fortunate this year to receive a $5,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over drunk driving enforcement fund.
With those funds, Chew said the department can dedicate more officers to be proactive during the certain times of day when the highest number of drunk driving incidents and crashes occur.
“The people that don’t take advantage of the Saves Lives program, we’ll be out there protecting the innocent from drunk drivers,” Chew said.
