CARIBOU, Maine — For the 31st year in a row, Beaulieu’s Garage & Body Shop in Caribou offered a free towing service for anyone who felt too impaired to drive on New Year’s Eve.
Beaulieu’s owner Jeff Robertson said that anyone in Caribou and surrounding communities who felt unsafe driving home could give his shop a call. Someone would arrive wherever the person was, and take them and their vehicle to wherever they needed to go for the night.
“Nothing’s ever said, and no one’s name ever spoken,” Robertson said. “We’ve towed a lot of people over the years … It’s a personal thing between us.”
Robertson said the program was born out of an era in which intoxicated driving was far more prevalent than it is today.
According to U.S. Department of Transportation data, when Robertson first began the service in 1988, 18,611 people were killed in crashes involving a blood-alcohol content above .08, making up 40 percent of all crash fatalities. In 2018, those numbers were down to 10,511 and 29 percent, respectively.
“We would end up seeing the results of what could happen if you were drinking and driving,” Robertson said. “That always kind of affected me, and made me wonder what I could do to try to make a difference.”
While Robertson acknowledges that attitudes on impaired driving have changed, aided by a massive law enforcement crackdown on the practice, he said many still get behind the wheel when they really shouldn’t.
Robertson said that in his experience, it is usually those who are not heavy drinkers and get “caught up in the excitement” of the holiday who are most at-risk of impaired driving, and thus most helped by his program.
For Robertson, the service represents a continued effort by his shop, which began in 1941, to be pillars of the community. He saw an Aroostook County exceptionalism in what he and others across The County do to make it a better place.
“Whether you do business with us or not, we still care about you and your family,” Robertson said. “And that is the uniqueness of Aroostook County.”
While Robertson drove the tow truck himself for many years, he has delegated the work to his two sons, Sam and Dan, for the past few.
Both brothers said the experience had been nothing but enjoyable in recent years.
“Usually, the people are pretty jolly because they’ve been having a good time, cutting loose a little bit,” Dan said. “I haven’t had a bad situation yet occur. Most of them have been very decent.”
Sam said his love of The County propels him to want to do whatever he can to help residents, including being willing to travel great distances.
“I’ll go as far as they have to,” Sam said. “If they have to go to Fort Kent, we’ll go to Fort Kent.”
Jeff Robertson said that while Sam and Dan picked up people until 2 a.m., it was a slower year than usual. He suspected it was because of the harsh, snowy weather that night.
Laura Adams, administrative assistant for the Caribou Police Department, said the department had extra patrols across the city to watch for and deter impaired driving on the holiday.
Caribou Police did not make any intoxicated driving arrests during New Year’s Eve celebrations, Adams said.
Adams said that on the night of New Year’s Eve 2018, the department had arrested a juvenile on charges of illegal transportation of liquor by a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia. She said there were two OUI arrests by the department on New Year’s Eve 2017 and 2016, respectively.
According to Maine’s Bureau of Highway Safety, a driver’s first drunk driving charge in Maine will result in a 150-day license suspension and $500 fine. With aggravating factors, two days in jail will be included. A second offense will result in a three-year license suspension, a $700 fine and a week in jail.
