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Uploaded: Monday, August 31, 2009, 8:37 PM
'Safe Ride' gears up for tipsy teens, others
Student volunteers available to help intoxicated Midpeninsula teenagers home under American Red Cross program
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by Daniela Reichelstein
Palo Alto Online Staff
Safe Ride, a quarter-century-old service that offers rides to intoxicated teenagers from Mountain View to Redwood City, is preparing to launch in mid-September for the new school year.
The program is operated by American Red Cross student volunteers.
"Right now, we are holding orientations for youth volunteers as well as school and parent chaperones," Cynthia Shaw, director of communication, marketing and government relations for the American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter, which sponsors the program, said.
Every Friday and Saturday night, teams of trained student volunteers work alongside an adult supervisor to man a hotline to dispatch two-person driving teams in Red Cross vehicles to pick up intoxicated teens who call the Safe Ride number, 1-877-753-RIDE. The program operates weekends between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
During the 2007-2008 school year, Safe Rides gave 633 rides home, while student volunteers contributed more than 1,500 hours to the program.
Not all ride recipients are intoxicated -- some called for a ride to avoid riding with someone who had been drinking, Shaw said. The rides are free, and confidential, she said.
Safe Ride relies on its volunteers, recruited by Red Cross clubs at local high schools, to keep the program going, Shaw said. It is operated out of the Palo Alto Red Cross office.
"It is a unique program that provides vital safety to our community," Lucas Matze, a student coordinator for Safe Ride, said.
"I volunteer for Safe Ride because I know that my work is doing good. Every time I drop someone off at their house it's one less person on the road, potentially endangering themselves or others."
The program reduces the instances involving teenage drunken driving, Shaw said.
Traffic crashes are the number-one killer of teens and 31 percent of teen traffic deaths involve alcohol, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
In 2007, 7.8 percent of 16 and 17 year-olds reported driving drunk in the past year.
The Safe Ride program was founded in 1984 by a group of Gunn and Palo Alto high school students after a fellow student died in an alcohol-related car accident.
The program has expanded to eight high schools in Santa Clara county: Castilleja, Gunn, Los Altos, Menlo, Menlo Atherton, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sacred Heart Preparatory.
Shaw said Safe Ride serves Midpeninsula communities as well as schools, including Redwood City, Woodside, Portola Valley, Atherton, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Moffett Field and Stanford.
Safe Ride relies on the efforts of student and parent volunteers as well as in-kind donations from several community organizations, she said.
"This program saves lives, no doubt about it," Barb Larson, CEO of the American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter, said when the program received a $5,000 grant from the Palo Alto Community Fund last June. The program relies heavily on donations from the community, she said.
"This program gives a safe option to students who maybe indulged in drinking at a party or who rode with a driver who became impaired, Larson said.
The goal is to cut down on alcohol-related teen deaths and injuries -- and help educate high school students on the dangers of drinking and driving.
"But students needn't have been drinking to use the service."
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| Comments
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Posted by safe ride needs, a resident of Menlo Park, on Aug 31, 2009 at 10:15 pm Safe Rides needs adult volunteers badly!! Please call to help. We need one adult volunteer every Friday and Saturday night.
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Posted by Parent of teen driver, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Aug 31, 2009 at 11:08 pm I hope that all teen drivers volunteering are all beyond the newly licensed laws that prevent teens driving teens, and teens driving after the hour of 11.00 pm. We wouldn't want to be seen encouraging teens to break the law.
Otherwise, a very good idea and well worth the effort.
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Posted by common sense, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Sep 1, 2009 at 10:29 am The law was passed to prevent drunk teens from driving. If breaking this law saves teenagers' lives, I say go for it!
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Posted by Concerned resident, a resident of another community, on Sep 1, 2009 at 1:38 pm sure, lets condone drinking and send the message that it is ok, go ahead break the law and someone will cover for you. No wonder we are so messed up as a society.
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Posted by Dean, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 1, 2009 at 2:32 pm I just contacted the red cross to volunteer!
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Posted by Former SR Volunteer, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Sep 1, 2009 at 4:08 pm Teen drivers for Safe Ride must have completed their one year of driving (as required by California's graduated drivers license laws (GDL) ). And their driving license must have cleared a full "check" by the DMV. Younger volunteers or those who have not yet completed the requirements of the GDL support Safe Ride as navigators, phone communicators, and a variety of other essential roles.
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Posted by Tracy, a member of the Gunn High School community, on Sep 1, 2009 at 4:59 pm I would like to provide some insigt into this program. Yes, it provides a safe, non-judgemental way for students who may have been drinking to get HOME safely. It also provides a safe exit strategy for girls or boys who find themselves in awkward or unfamiliar surroundings to get HOME safely. The students who call for this service are using good judgement and staying out from behind the wheel, or not walking home in less than ideal conditions. It does not condone or encourage bad behavior it provides a safe alternative - for the realities of some teen behavior. The student volunteers, who work until 2 am know the value of this service, the students who call for rides, know the value of this service. The volunteers are trained and know when and if to contact additional help. This program teaches, protects, and saves lives.
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Posted by safe ride needs, a resident of Menlo Park, on Sep 1, 2009 at 11:02 pm Thank you Dean, for calling to volunteer!!
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Posted by jardins, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 2, 2009 at 4:59 pm Concerned resident: the Safe Ride program does NOT condone drinking. It deals with the reality that some young people make unwise decisions--they drink and then they drive. The Safe Ride program saves those people from themselves--and it ALSO saves countless innocent people: those who otherwise would ride home with drunk drivers, those in vehicles in collision with drunk drivers' vehicles, pedestrians, etc.
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Posted by OuJrTMKsyFfuO, a resident of the Meadow Park neighborhood, on Sep 15, 2009 at 5:15 am doors.txt;10;15
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Posted by Younger Volunteer, a resident of Menlo Park, on Nov 11, 2009 at 9:43 pm Hi, I am a younger teen, so I don't have my permit. I would like to volunteer, but I want to know if it is all week because I have school. When are the times? Thank You.
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