[PSA] Tipsy Tow WON’T Drive You Home, Please Stop Re-Posting That

It’s beginning to look like Christmas on Facebook, with a potentially dangerous “AAA’s Tipsy Tow” tip appearing across our newsfeeds — but will AAA’s Tipsy Tow really pick you up anywhere in the US for free on big drinking nights so you don’t have to drive home drunk? (Or get in a car with a possibly impaired driver?)

AAA’s Tipsy Tow has been suggested on social media every year to partying Facebookers, but the information is at best inaccurate, and at worst, very dangerous. We worry when it begins to go viral, imagining the hordes of revelers who were counting on an AAA Tipsy Tow lift — and may be summarily stuck somewhere cold, unsafe, or otherwise left stranded.

Social News Daily would like you to make sure you don’t get behind the wheel impaired this holiday season, and that if you are able to prevent someone else from doing so, you do.

But the AAA Tipsy Tow service is unlikely to be an option for most people, and we’d also like you to plan accordingly.

Chances are, you’ve seen this pop up once or twice this year or last year in your Facebook feed:

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Or this:

“No excuses, folks. Don’t drink and drive-and don’t ride with anybody who does. Tipsy Tow offered by AAA: You don’t have to be a AAA member, from 6pm-6am on New Year’s Eve/Day they will take your drunk self and your car home for FREE. Save this number… 1-800-222-4357. Please re-post this if you don’t mind.”

Here at Social News Daily, we’ve reached out via that number to ask about the AAA Tipsy Tow service. And while it does exist in some forms in some places, less than half states have Tipsy Tow services — and within those 17 states, it’s not available in all areas.

Further, AAA Tipsy Tow is not necessarily available even in an area in which it is offered, owing to the nature of such a service. If there is a local provider, there’s no guarantee they will be available to take you home.

Again, the AAA Tipsy Tow warning is a great reminder not to drive drunk, but we don’t want to see you stranded. If you’re drinking, bring cab fare or arrange a drive!