Since September, Evesham Township has been helping to save lives — quite literally, in its words. That month, the township launched a pilot program funded entirely through private donations from businesses, groups and even citizens that provided residents of the town with a free ride home from a township-based bar or restaurant if they had too much to drink.
The program, called Evesham Saving Lives, partnered with popular DD services such as Uber and BeMyDD to keep potential drunk drivers off the streets.
The program worked well in the initial pilot stage, and so, it was expanded another month. And then another. And another. In the program’s first 100 days, officials said 800 residents used the service. Only two of the Evesham residents arrested for DWI during that time came from any of the 19 locations in town where the program is available. Before the program started, nearly 60 percent of those arrested for DWI in Evesham were residents of the town. During the program, that number dropped all the way to 5 percent.
Last week, Voorhees Township, Evesham’s next-door neighbor but across county lines, partnered with Evesham to jump on board the program. Now, residents of either township can get a free ride home from any establishment in either town to keep them from making the dumb decision of getting behind the wheel while they are impaired.
This new partnership is set to run through Jan. 15, with donations funding it through that time. Evesham Mayor Randy Brown, a Republican, has said he’ll make sure it continues in his town indefinitely, and Voorhees Mayor Michael Mignogna, a Democrat, is happy to offer the program as well.
The Saving Lives program is a wonderful example of bipartisan politics: A Republican-controlled town government in one county partners with a Democrat-controlled town government in the next county over to do what government is intended to do — help keep its constituents safe.
This is a highly commendable program — one that works, both in theory and in practice. The two town governments should be thanked, but so, too, should the generous unnamed businesses, groups and residents who have provided the donations to run it.
Now, the next step should be expansion again — maybe with the help of more towns, counties or even the state, who could provide funding so private donations weren’t needed.
Let’s make this happen.
