SMART Ride - new to Rice County Fair this year!

There will be a new ride at the Rice County Fair this year – SMART RIDE!  A Smart Ride sober cab is an easy choice by dialing 507-333-0090. 

The Rice County TZD (Toward Zero Deaths) Safe Roads Coalition, with the cooperation and assistance of local bars, local law enforcement, and many other businesses and individuals, developed the Smart Ride sober cab program in Rice County.  First Choice Shuttle currently provides this sober, Smart Ride service in Faribault and Northfield, providing a safe and sober ride home from many local bars at a cost of only $5.  (If you are drinking in a local establishment, and your server determines you need a ride home, the Smart Ride is free of charge to you.) 

Beginning with the July 16-21, 2013, Rice County Fair, the Smart Ride service is also now available from the Rice County Fairgrounds.  The service will continue to be available at future events scheduled at the Fairgrounds when alcohol is served.  Just as it works with local bars, the Smart Ride sober cab service from the Fairgrounds will cost $5 to anywhere in Faribault.  Or, it will be free to you if your server determines you need a ride.  First Choice Shuttle will come into the Fairgrounds and pick up riders by the Sheriff’s Command Center.  If you have a vehicle at the Fairgrounds, you will receive a parking pass to put in the window of your vehicle to avoid being towed or ticketed. 

The cost of the Rice County Smart Ride program is supported by DWI forfeiture money, a local beer distributor, and local establishments that serve alcohol.  Smart Ride is a safe ride home, and the sober cab will not transport riders to another bar. 

Smart Ride is a public safety program first, and a service to us individually, second.  The more people in the community that choose Smart Ride, the safer our community is as a whole.  A Smart Ride is an easy choice and will result in fewer impaired drivers on Rice County roads.

Planning for a sober ride home from the Fair before you’ve been drinking can save you money and heartache.  But, if needed, please call for a Smart Ride.  It could be the smartest $5 investment you’ve ever made.  Alcohol related traffic deaths in Rice County have been slowing decreasing in number.  In 2012, there were 264 DWI citations in our County; and although this is the lowest number in many years, it is still too many.  Don’t risk an accident or a ticket.  Please call for a sober ride.

Enjoy the 2013 Rice County Fair!  And if you need it, call 507-333-0090 for a Smart Ride.    

Please thank Jim Hermel and the Rice County Fair Board for their enthusiastic support of the SMART Ride program.  The Rice County TZD Safe Roads Coalition welcomes the Fair’s participation in the sober cab program, and is pleased to offer safe and sober rides from the County Fair beginning next week!