AAA Texas Offers Extended Tipsy Tow Service for Christmas-New Year's Holidays; Free Anti-Drinking & Driving Community Service

Business Wire, Dec 22, 2003

News Editors/Travel Writers

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 22, 2003

AAA Texas is offering its free Tipsy Tow service to drivers who drink during the Christmas-New Year's holidays. The service is available from 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 24 until midnight Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004.

The Tipsy Tow program, now in its 17th year, is designed to provide drivers with a way to get home safely if they have been drinking. The first ten miles are free.

Here is how it works:

-- Drivers, holiday hosts and bartenders simply dial AAA Texas'

toll free number at 1-800-AAA-HELP or 1-800-222-4357 to

request Tipsy Tow service.

-- AAA Texas dispatches a tow truck and;

-- The driver is driven -- and the vehicle towed -- home for free

up to 10 miles. (up to 2 people can ride in the tow truck)

"If you are hosting a holiday event, take note of who drinks and who drives -- and have the Tipsy Tow number available as a responsible option," says Rose Rougeau, with AAA Texas.

Callers need to keep in mind that the service is restricted to a one-way, one-time ride for the driver and the destination is limited to the driver's residence. Reservations are not accepted. Drivers can expect to pay the rate charged by the tow truck contractor for rides farther than ten miles.

The Tipsy Tow service is available in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, the Greater Houston area and San Antonio.

AAA Texas, an affiliate of AAA National, has been serving Texans since 1902. Today, more than a million AAA Texas members benefit from the organization's roadside assistance service, travel agency, financial products, insurance products and services, automotive pricing, buying and financing, trip planning services, and traffic safety programs. Information about these products and services is available on AAA Texas' Web site at www.aaa-texas.com.