
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 7, 1994                   TAG: 9410070016
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SPOKES-MEN RIDE FOR MADD

When Alexandria police officer Lou Florio asked his partner, Willie McMeans, to bike about 540 miles across Virginia with him, McMeans thought he was crazy - until Florio said the trip would raise money for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

McMeans couldn't say no.

"This ride isn't about me or [Florio]. It's about MADD," said McMeans, who since Monday has covered about 300 miles of Virginia's mountainous terrain with Florio. Their first major stop was at Roanoke's Market Square on Thursday.

They rode there from Roanoke College, where they had been joined by bike patrol officers from Roanoke, Virginia Tech, Roanoke College and Martinsville. The group of 10 cruised into downtown with Florio and McMeans, then pedaled with them as far as Hollins College.

McMeans and Florio are taking a week of unpaid leave to make the trek from the Cumberland Gap to Alexandria. They'll make stops in Charlottesville and Richmond before winding down in Alexandria on Saturday. The six-day journey was Florio's way of paying MADD back for its help in the community, he said.

In Alexandria, that help came in the form of video cameras for officers to use in making drunken-driving arrests. Throughout Virginia, MADD's help has meant pressure on legislators to lower the blood-alcohol level for drunken driving and to provide victim support and assistance programs.

That payback couldn't come at a better time. The officers' "Get MADD Across Virginia" crusade coincides with MADD's eighth annual "Tie One On ... For Safety" campaign. The red-ribbon campaign is the organization's largest public awareness event, to remind drivers to be sober during the upcoming holiday season and throughout the year. This year, Ford Motor Co. has gotten in on the act.

It's pitching in $100,000 to advertise the campaign in Southwest Virginia, plus $10 for each Ford Contour test-driven in the state to Virginia MADD through the end of the year. And all 1995 Contours delivered to customers will have red ribbons tied to them as reminders not to drink and drive.

According to regional Ford merchandising manager Drew Cook, the coupling of Ford and MADD is a logical one. Ford is touting its "new world" car as one of the safest on the road, and MADD promotes safe driving.

Cook estimates that by year's end, Ford will give about $20,000 from test drives to MADD for public awareness materials.

Public awareness is at the heart of MADD's mission.

Brenda Altman, of Union Hall in Franklin County, takes that mission personally.

Six years ago a drunken driver took her sister's life near Richmond and seriously injured Altman. Eleven operations later, Altman joined MADD.

"After my accident, MADD helped me. They gave me the emotional support I needed. Now it's my turn to give something back," said Altman, founder and chairwoman of MADD's Smith Mountain Lake regional chapter.

"If just one person listens to me, and if I can help one person before [an accident] happens to them, ...then my sister will not have died in vain," Altman said.

by CNB