Police look to prevent drunk driving on New Year's Eve

SHAKOPEE, Minn. (KMSP) - The holiday weekend's 288 drunk driving arrests in Minnesota are on par with past Christmas weekends, the State Patrol says, though--like in previous years--it's significantly higher than other weekends.

With New Year's Eve falling on a Sunday this year as well, police agencies have turned their heads toward preventing drunk driving and doing what they call "community outreach."

Shakopee Police are offering free cab rides this year to anywhere in the metro, linking to a coupon on their Facebook page that's good at any Shakopee bar. At Bunny's Bar and Grill in St. Louis Park, management is offering a $5 chip toward a sober ride home.

"You need to think and not drive," Manager Tom Manley of Bunny's said. "We love to get them home safe so they can come back and do it again another day."

"Dry Drivers" is another company promoting its services, offering an app that promises, "No surge pricing!" 

All of these things are being promoted by law enforcement agencies across the metro this week, in the hopes that they can prevent drunk driving crashes and arrests on what often amounts to one of the busiest nights for police and other first responders.

Drunk driving, they say, is never worth the physical and financial risks--whether you crash or not, a first offense will run you around $10,000.