ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 5, 1996 TAG: 9612050045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on December 11, 1996.
A Roanoke Times article reported Thursday that a Safe Rides Taxi
Service and Safe Tow Service would be provided to Roanoke Valley
residents through Jan. 1 who need a ride home after drinking too much
for a $10 donation to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
The article should have said the Safe RidesiTaxi service provided by
Liberty Cab is completely free of charge. The Safe Tow Program staffed
by Williamson Road Towing is provided to residents for a $10 dollar
donation to MADD.
IF YOU PARTY TOO MUCH this holiday season, a $10 donation will get you, and your car, a ride home.
Most everyone knows drunken driving is wrong and designated drivers are the way to go. But what to do if you are out celebrating and realize you've had too much to drink?
The Regional Drunk & Drugged Driving Prevention Campaign has the answer. A Safe Rides Taxi Service and a Safe Tow Service will be provided for any resident of the Roanoke Valley, and each service costs a $10 donation to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said Tom Altman, president of the Smith Mountain Lake chapter of MADD.
Beginning Dec. 14 and continuing through Jan. 1, a taxi stand, staffed by Liberty Cab, will be located in front of Center in the Square on the Roanoke City Market, providing rides to anyone who has had too much to drink. Those outside the Market area can call the Safe Rides Program at 344-1776. Williamson Road Towing also will be available, by calling 366-4616, to have the partygoer's car towed home at the same time a ride is given, Altman said.
At the campaign kickoff in Market Square on Wednesday, Roanoke Police Chief M. David Hooper declared December "Drunk & Drugged Driving Prevention Month."
"We all need to take a stand. Intervening should be a common practice," Hooper said. "Drunk driving is not socially acceptable."
To coincide with the Safe Rides and Towing Services program, participating organizations are placing educational materials in restaurants and stores. Educational banners will be strung across Campbell Avenue and Wall Street downtown, and a 7-foot pledge wall will be in the atrium of Center in the Square, where individuals may sign a public pledge not to drink and drive. MADD also is continuing its "Tie One On For Safety" red ribbon campaign during the holiday season.
In case the anti-drunken-driving campaigns are not enough incentive to not drink and drive, law enforcement patrols and sobriety checkpoints will increase over the holiday season.
"All [state] troopers on patrol are focused toward the indicators of a drunk driver," Virginia State Police Capt. C.R. Compton said. "I hope it makes people stop to think. People get busy during the holiday season, and a lot of times safety is not something people are thinking of."
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