January 13, 2006

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Palo Alto Online

Riding to safety
Local teens help peers safely get home on weekends

by Cyrus Hedayati

igh school seniors James Muscarella and Alix Pruzanski enjoy spending their weekend nights cruising to parties around the Peninsula -- but not because they're romantically desperate. Instead, the pair pick up drunk teenagers and drive them home as part of a community service called Safe Ride.

@text: The program is free and anonymous, giving teens an easy alternative to driving under the influence.

"We don't lecture them, or tell them 'What are you doing? You shouldn't be doing this,'" said Muscarella, a Safe Ride coordinator attending Gunn.

"A lot of times they'll talk to you, but if they don't want to, the only thing they have to tell us is where they want to be dropped off," said Pruzanski, a program coordinator attending Castilleja.

Every year, teens and their parents experience the sobering reality of drunk driving. Leaving parties too intoxicated to make good judgments and too afraid to call home for help, some teens opt to get in the car with a drunk driver or possibly drive under the influence themselves. The consequences of such decisions have been substantial, according to the American Red Cross: While young drivers make up only 6.9 percent of the total driving population, they constitute 13 percent of the alcohol-involved drivers in fatal crashes.

Because of the importance of the issue, Safe Ride received a $5,000 grant from the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund this past year to operate.

According to Anna Gail Caunca, the head of the program and director of community partnerships at the American Red Cross' Palo Alto Chapter, the program has leaped in success this year: The number of rides given in fall 2005 was 121, compared to only 33 the year before.

"We had way more calls last semester (than in previous years) -- not because more people were drinking, but because more people were calling," Pruzanski said.

As coordinators, Muscarella and Pruzanski recruit volunteers and promote awareness of the program at their schools. Many volunteers have seen the effects of drinking and driving firsthand, Pruzanski said.

"I had a friend die from a drunk driver a few years ago," she said. "Everyone knows someone who does it (drinks)."

The program began in 1984, after a Palo Alto High School student, Scott Safreed, 17, died in a car accident on Embarcadero Road due to a 16-year-old drunk driver. Students from Palo Alto and Gunn High School created Safe Ride so that no teen would have an excuse for driving drunk.

In addition to helping a program they believe in, volunteers receive other benefits: They earn community service hours and become CPR certified, which can help obtain jobs like being a lifeguard, Pruzanski said.

"I get to know the area really well," said Willie Salzman, a volunteer and senior at Gunn. Volunteers like Salzman can pick up teens from Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Los Altos, Moffett Field, Mountain View, Portola Valley, Redwood City, Stanford and Woodside.

The coordinators also learn leadership skills, Caunca said, since most of the responsibilities fall on their shoulders. While Castilleja, Palo Alto, Gunn, Los Altos, St. Francis and Sacred Heart high schools promote the program, it's up to the volunteers from those schools to recruit more students.

"Anna Gail really wants the program to be run by students so she makes us do a lot," Pruzanski said.

Coordinators are critical to the program because without the minimum of four teen volunteers (two boys and two girls) and one adult supervisor, the service cannot run for the night, Caunca said.

"If we have to cancel a night, it hurts the program," Pruzanski said. "If people call and no one picks up, they'll think that they can't depend on Safe Ride."

The volunteers stay the American Red Cross Palo Alto facility from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights, answering calls, providing transportation for their peers and doing various activities in the meantime, like watching movies and playing games.

"Sometimes we have theme nights," Pruzanski said. "Some nights we'll have poker or a video-game night."

Safeway and Blockbuster also donate gift cards to the program, so the volunteers have access to whatever movies and snacks they want.

"It's actually fun getting the calls," said Pruzanski, as the other volunteers rushed over to answer their first call of the night. "We all get excited when the phone rings."

The volunteers also attend meetings where they learn and discuss the effects of driving under the influence with professionals, such as police officers and paramedics. Hopefully, Caunca said, the volunteers will pass on their knowledge to friends.

"Kids are talking to each other," she said. "If you learn about it in health class, you usually get lectured by the teacher. It's different hearing it from your peers."

The volunteers say that in addition to local authorities, most residents support the program, pointing out that one of the two cars they use came from an anonymous donor in the community.

"The parents at Gunn are really into it," Muscarella said. "Sometimes you'll get, like, a school board meeting where someone will complain that it's encouraging drinking, but it seems like most people are cool with it."

They say the program does not encourage or discourage underage drinking, but merely addresses the safety issues all teens face.

"It's an acknowledgement of reality," said Ron Voss, an adult volunteer whose daughter previously attended Los Altos High.

Also, the program is not reserved for those under the influence, the volunteers said.

"If someone just feels unsafe, if they want to get home and need a ride, Safe Ride is there for them to use," Pruzanski said.

Editorial Intern Cyrus Hedayati can be reached at chedayati@paweeekly.com

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