No plans for New Year's tonight?
Why not help keep the roads safe and collect a bounty to boot?
The Safety Council of Palm Beach County is once again running its "Mobile Eyes" program tonight, where they basically pay you a hundred bucks if you spot a drunk driver and report them.
The program has been running since 2001, and the Safety Council has consistently given out 30 to 40 cash awards every year since then.
The cash is handed out once the driver who's been reported is arrested.
According to a Palm Beach County Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving volunteer, Diego Asencio, the program works.
"The deaths are going down," he said. "But we still have a lot of work to do. The idea is to get them before the crash happens."
Since 2009, Palm Beach County has seen alcohol-related traffic accidents and deaths go down. Last year, there were 47 deaths -- a sharp decline from 2009, which saw 62 people die in alcohol-related traffic accidents.
Cops say the best way to handle the Mobile Eyes program is with your phone. Don't engage the driver or try to stop him yourself. Let the police handle that part. Instead, follow the driver, take down his tag number, and report it immediately.
It's pretty simple: You see a drunk driver, you call 911 and report it. If the person is arrested, the officer fills out a Mobile Eyes report, which is then sent to the Safety Council of Palm Beach County. You then collect $100. And a life -- and maybe more -- is saved in the process.
It might be a fun and interesting way to get easy money. But it's also a way to save a life or two or three.
It's like you're the city's Batman! Only you're actually getting paid to save it.
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