For Immediate Release | March 7, 2018

Avon Launching Tipsy Taxi Program to Reduce Impaired Driving and Enhance Community Safety

Avon, CO – The Avon Police Department is excited to announce the launch of a Tipsy Taxi pilot program, with the aim of reducing impaired driving in our community. The program is slated to begin on March 9th.
 
The Town is partnering with a variety of local businesses, who have all made financial contributions to the pilot program. The businesses include Pazzo’s Pizzeria, Village Warehouse Wines, Loaded Joe’s, Westin Riverfront Resort, Montana’s Smokehouse, Northside Kitchen, Wyndham Resort at Avon, Bob’s Place and Beaver Liquors. The Tipsy Taxi program is modeled on a very successful program that has run in Pitkin County/Aspen for 30 years.

The program is intended to provide taxi rides to individuals who are inebriated, in order to prevent them from driving under the influence. Licensed servers and bartenders, upon identifying individuals who need an immediate ride home, will escort the individuals to a taxi and provide the taxi driver with a voucher that will pay for the taxi ride. The voucher covers $20 of the ride and will get a person home safely within Avon or our sister communities of Eagle-Vail and Edwards. Tipsy Taxi transports people home. It does not shuttle them to other drinking establishments. The program does not pay for traditional taxi use, as it is only meant to target individuals who are too drunk to drive and may elect to drive home, if not for this program.

The Town of Avon and participating businesses encourage everyone to drink responsibly and refrain from drinking and driving.

For questions, please call the Avon Police Department at (970) 748-4040.

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