AAA Offers Tipsy Tow

A free "tipsy tow" home will be available to impaired drivers who are within seven miles of their home beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday and lasting until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Tows that travel farther than seven miles are available, however, drivers can expect to pay the rate charged by the tow truck contractor. 

For the 17th year, the Automobile Club of Southern California is offering the free service to keep drunk and impaired drivers off the road. The Tipsy Tow service is available in the 13 Southern California counties served by the Auto Club, according to a post on the organization's website.

Motorists, bartenders, restaurant managers, party hosts or passengers of a drinking driver simply call 1-800-400-4AAA and say “I need a Tipsy Tow” to arrange the free tow and ride home.  

Drivers who avail themselves of the Tipsy Tow will be served by a regular Auto Club-contracted roadside service truck that will tow their vehicle and give the driver a ride for a maximum of seven miles. 

Tipsy Tow is restricted to a one-way, one-time ride for the driver and the destination is limited to the driver’s residence, according to the Auto Club. 

The service does not accept reservations and is intended to keep people who shouldn't be driving from doing so by providing a free ride that gets the driver's vehicle and the driver himself home.