Bibb coroner offers rides to those who plan to imbibe on New Year's Eve

Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones plans to spend New Year's Eve doing the same thing he's done for the past several years —taking living people home instead of dead ones to the morgue.

Three 15-passenger vans will be gassed up and ready by 5 p.m. Sunday, when Jones, Macon-Bibb County Fire Department Capt. Dexter Lawson and Robert Daniels, owner of Daniels Removal and Transport Service, will crank up and set out on an all-night chauffeur extravaganza.

The rides will stop "when everybody's got home safely," Jones said. "You call, we haul."

Reservations for free rides may be made by calling Jones directly at 478-256-6716. As of Wednesday afternoon, several people had already booked rides for the holiday, Jones said.

Jones, who personally foots the bill for the rides, said he offers them as a service to the community. Jones said Daniels Removal and Transport Service is allowing use of the vans at no cost.

"When you get elected, stay connected to the community. That's always been my philosophy," Jones said. "They gave me the opportunity to be coroner in 2004 and I took office in 2005 and never looked back."

Jones took 59 people home last New Year's Eve.

"Why should you drink and drive when you've got three vans, you've got three people to come pick you up," Jones said. "It don't make no sense. Get locked up, get bonded out, your picture is all over Facebook, all over the media. You got to go in front of a judge. You're embarrassing your family and friends. ... If you want to drink, call us."

Laura Corley 744-4334; @Lauraecor

This story was originally published December 27, 2017 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Bibb coroner offers rides to those who plan to imbibe on New Year's Eve."