AAA holiday service to avoid impaired driving returns, research finds support for countermeasures

AAA is offering its life-saving “Tow to Go” program for impaired drivers beginning on Christmas Eve.

The goal is to keep roads safe during the holiday season and is designed as a last-resort safety net when other options, like a designated driver or rideshare, fall through, AAA says. The service will be active from 6 p.m. Dec. 24 through 6 a.m. Jan. 2 in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, North Dakota, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. It will also be offered in Denver, Colorado; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Fort Wayne and South Bend in Indiana.

The free, confidential ride and tow takes drivers and their vehicles to a safe location within a 10-mile radius of pickup. It’s open to both AAA members and non-members. To use, call 855-2-TOW-2-GO. Service cannot be scheduled in advance and should only be used as a backup plan, according to AAA.

“The holiday season is a time for joy and celebration, but it also carries a greater risk of impaired driving,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA – The Auto Club Group, in a press release. “AAA urges Floridians to plan ahead and make responsible choices to keep the holidays both safe and festive. Tow to Go is our gift to the community, ensuring everyone gets home safely to enjoy the holidays with their loved ones.”

AAA says alcohol-impaired driving is involved in nearly one-third of all U.S. traffic deaths. In 2023 alone, over 12,000 lives — one every 42 minutes — were lost in alcohol-related crashes.

AAA’s “Crashes Hit Different” campaign aims to remind drivers that behind every crash statistic is a real person: a parent, a friend, or a neighbor whose life is forever changed.

“These tragedies are preventable, and programs like ‘Tow to Go’ are part of the solution,” the release states.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS) recently released its annual Traffic Safety Culture Index, which shows that while risky driving behaviors remain widespread, Americans strongly support a range of impaired driving countermeasures that could significantly reduce fatalities.

The index examines driver attitudes, self-reported behaviors, and support for evidence-based traffic safety policies.

This year’s results highlight a clear pattern: even as some drivers continue to take dangerous risks, most Americans want stronger safeguards that prevent impaired driving, including advanced vehicle technologies and more protective legal standards, AAA says.

“Federal officials estimate that more than 39,000 people were killed in U.S. traffic crashes in 2024, a slight decrease from the previous year but still a stark reminder of the persistent public health crisis on American roads,” a AAA press release states.

David Yang, AAAFTS president and executive director, adds, “Findings from the AAA Foundation survey give us a strong sense of what drivers see as risky, and what they want done about it. Those insights can help safety stakeholders and policymakers focus on effective solutions with broad public support.”

The index report found:

• • Sixty-seven percent of drivers support requiring all new cars include alcohol-impairment prevention technology.
  • Fifty-one percent support lowering the legal BAC limit from 0.08 to 0.05.
  • Ninety-three percent say driving after drinking is very or extremely dangerous; however, 7% say they did so in the past 30 days.
  • Seventy percent say driving within an hour of using marijuana is very or extremely dangerous; however, 6% reported doing so.

“These findings show that the public is ready for stronger action,” said Gene Boehm, President and CEO of AAA, in the release. “People overwhelmingly want policies and technologies that prevent impaired driving, and those tools already exist. Implementing policies like the HALT Drunk Driving Law, alongside fair and effective enforcement, could save thousands of lives each year.”

December is Impaired Driving Prevention Month, and AAA is teaming up with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Waymo to remind drivers always to plan a sober ride home whenever they go out to celebrate.

The survey also found risky behavior persists in other areas.

Distracted Driving

• • Ninety-seven percent said they scroll social media
  • Ninety-four percent said they text or send emails
  • Ninety percent said reading on a hand-held phone is extremely or very dangerous; however, 28% said they’ve texted, 37% have read messages, and 36% have talked on a hand-held phone while driving.
  • Seventy-nine percent support a hand-held phone ban.
  • Forty percent support limits on hands-free use.

Aggressive driving and speeding

• • Ninety percent view aggressive driving and 80% running red lights as extremely or very dangerous.
  • Fewer drivers saw speeding as dangerous compared to other risky behaviors.
  • Fifty-eight percent believe they’d be caught driving 15 mph over the limit, yet about half did so in the past month.
  • Forty-six percent support speed cameras on residential streets.’

Based on the patterns of reported risky driving behavior engagement over six years of TSCI survey data (2019–2024), five unique groups representing five general driving styles were identified using a latent class analysis.

They were interpreted as:

• • Safe Drivers: Rarely engaged in any risky driving behavior
  • Distracted Drivers: Predominantly engaged in all distracted driving behaviors
  • Speeding Drivers: Predominantly engaged in speeding behaviors
  • Distracted and Aggressive Drivers: Predominantly engaged in both distracted driving and aggressive driving behaviors
  • Most Dangerous Drivers: Engaged in all risky driving behaviors

“Safe Drivers consistently comprised the largest group, while Most Dangerous Drivers were the smallest group over the six years,” the index report states. “The proportion of drivers with a distracted driving style rose slightly over time, reaching a peak of 19% in 2023. The prevalence of Speeding Drivers remained between 23% and 27% in the 2019–2024 period.”

It adds that drivers were slightly less likely to be classified as speeding drivers compared to the Safe Driving style. Overall, the prevalence of Distracted and Aggressive Drivers increased over the study period.

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Featured image credit: AAA