Addressing Collisions Involving Unlicensed Drivers
and Drivers with Suspended or Revoked Licenses: Appendix 7
Profiles of State and Local Agency Implementation Efforts: Strategy 2.1 E1
Emphasis Area
2.1—Keeping Unlicensed/Suspended/Revoked Drivers off the Road
Objective
2.1 E—Eliminate Need to Drive
Strategy Name and Number
Provide Alternative Transportation Service (Strategy 2.1 E1)
Agency and Jurisdiction
Pitkin County Sheriff's Office, Aspen, Colorado
Problem(s) Identified
The City of Aspen, Colorado, is a resort community that attracts affluent visitors during the entire year, but especially in winter and summer. Its roads are mostly two-lane, and the terrain is mountainous. It ranks first in the state in retail alcohol sales in drinking establishments and second in sales in liquor stores. The center of Aspen City includes a large proportion of drinking establishments, and the local economy includes alcohol as an integral component. This combination of alcohol and hazardous roads was inconsistent with the desired image of the community.
Goals and Objectives Established
To prevent drunken driving, safe transportation home is provided for impaired customers. The rider service is part of a more comprehensive approach that includes education and enforcement. The broad-based goals and objectives include a provision for Unlicensed/Suspended/Revoked Drivers as part of the service.
Description of Strategy Implemented
This strategy acknowledges that there will be occasions when someone will overindulge and attempt to drive home while impaired. Rather than arrest drivers who have had too much to drink in the downtown drinking establishments, enforcement took an enlightened view and worked with the community to develop the Tipsy Taxi program. In this program, bartenders identify impaired customers and prevent their leaving to drive home. The bartender or a police officer arranges a ride for the customer, either on the public bus or in a taxi. Ride vouchers are all numbered and monitored for quality assurance.
Summary of Implementation Effort (Lessons Learned)
Tipsy Taxi is viewed as a crime prevention program, and hence it operates out of the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office. The program director spends about one half day a week administering the program. Other government employees assume some tasks, e.g., the county attorney is the program's legal counsel and an emergency room doctor is the medical counsel. The county treasurer handles program donations, and the county finance department maintains the program account and sends monthly checks to the taxi company to pay for rides provided.
Aspen's Tipsy Taxi program is part of a more comprehensive approach to drinking and driving. The underlying philosophy is that enforcement and the community, including the restaurant establishment, should work together to provide service and at the same time protect public safety. The ride service is in addition to public education and enforcement. There is mandatory training for bar owners, managers, and bartenders, covering liquor laws, over-serving laws, underage drinking laws, signs and symptoms of intoxication, and tactics for cutting off service peacefully when someone is intoxicated. They are also trained in how to arrange Tipsy Taxi rides for impaired customers. The service is also available to guests visiting in private homes. Begun in 1983, it has since operated without interruption 24 hours a day every day of the week. It provides a safe ride home, through either public bus or a taxi. Buses run until 2:30 am, half an hour after bars close. The bartender assumes responsibility for his/her customers to make sure that they can reach their destinations safely. If needed, the user's own vehicle is driven home for him/her.
Summary of the Results 1
Funding for Tipsy Taxi includes no tax dollars. Rather, it comes from liquor license fees, local foundation grants, and benefits, as well as fines from those convicted of an impaired driving offense. At times, the system has been abused, and maintaining a balance in ridership between abuse and underutilization is an ongoing balancing act.
Even though Pitkin County does not boast a large population and has few serious or fatal crashes, evaluation of the Tipsy Taxi program has shown that injury crashes decreased by 15 percent following program implementation, compared to no such reduction in comparison counties. Alcohol-related and nighttime crashes also showed improvement.
The Aspen community is unusually affluent, and perhaps not every community could support a similar program. Nevertheless, this program illustrates how it is possible for the business community to work cooperatively with enforcement, at a local level, so as to generate broad public support for measures that protect the public while supporting the economy. It is also important to remember that the alternative transportation was part of a larger cooperative effort that was embraced by the entire community.
Additional note: It should be emphasized that the community saw the issue as falling under the umbrella of crime prevention. Thus, it can be seen to be potentially applicable to prevention of other similar crimes, such as driving without a proper license, by offering an alternative form of transportation.
Contact Person and Information
Ellen Anderson
PO Box 456
Woody Creek, CO 81656
Tel: (970) 923-5064
Fax: (970) 923-5063
Email: EllenAnderson@compuserve.com
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