There are some Wilton High School students who are making the world safe, one car ride at a time.
Wilton Safe Rides is a student-run organization targeting driving under the influence. As their website explains, “We pick up students from 10 p.m.-2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights and bring them safely home, as part of a completely free, completely anonymous service.”
The program is a reality check–acknowledging the hard truth that Wilton teens do drink, it offers a great resource with an element of positive peer influence thrown in that helps save lives.
“It’s good to have because there are situations where you need to have it. It’s good for students to know that they shouldn’t be driving under the influence, it’s not okay. Safe Rides is helping kids understand there’s always another option,” explains WHS senior Cecilia “CC” Babchak, who is co-president with fellow senior Maddie Gillespie.
The message kids get from Safe Rides, says Gillespie, is worth it.
“We all know teens are going to go out and drink and party. So why not help them out and provide a ride home, instead of risking them being intoxicated and driving themselves home, possibly causing harm to themselves and other people. It eliminates any possibility,” she says.
With 100 volunteers, an increase from the group’s first year, Gillespie has noticed that there’s a variety of kids who have committed to volunteering.
“We have a good mix from different social groups, both guys and girls. I think that’s really key–it’s not just one group running Safe Rides. It’s the whole community and I think that comforts people when they call,” she says.
Lisa Schneider is one of two parent board members, along with Michael Safko. They became involved last year when each of their daughters (Abby Schneider and Lauren Safko) were co-presidents. Even though their girls have graduated and gone away to college, Schneider and Safko have stayed on to advise the current student volunteers. The remaining eight board members are all students.
“Mike and his daughter, Lauren, initiated the effort, meeting with the Wilton Police Department, with the town and with the school, to get the community’s blessing,” explains Schneider. “The police department loves it, and they come to our orientation, to let the students and parents know that they’re a partner in the effort and fully support what these kids are trying to do.”
The Ambulance Corps is also involved, teaching the kids about what alcohol poisoning looks like and what to do in the event of an emergency.
Schneider says the parents are behind the scenes, and the kids have autonomy.
“The students answer the phones. The kids go out and pick up anyone who calls. It’s always a co-ed team of one male volunteer and one female volunteer going out on a call, and there are anywhere from 10-12 kids staffing Trackside. Two people answer the phone and dispatch the cars, which the kids rotate so they can have all the different experiences. The parent is there as a backup in case anyone encounters something they don’t know how to handle.”
The kids work from their base at Trackside Teen Center on Friday and Saturday nights during the school year, with the exception of holidays. “It depends on the social schedule of the weekend. We could get anywhere from five calls to 40 calls. Sometime kids could go out on a call at 10:30 p.m. and be out for three hours straight, driving kids, if it’s a busy party weekend or homecoming or prom, something like that,” Schneider says.
Because the kids who drive are still usually of the age that falls under state law curfew, the law has been modified to accommodate for Safe Rides drivers, she explains. “If you’re under 18 and a Safe Rides volunteer, it is legal for you to be out driving at 2 o’clock in the morning.” Drivers can only take as many passengers as there are seat belts in a car.
The other major element about Safe Rides is the confidentiality. “We ask for a caller’s first name, but they don’t have to give it if they don’t want to. We ask for a cell phone number just so we can let them know when the ride arrives or if we have trouble locating them. That information is kept at Trackside until the end of the year when it’s shredded, and nobody knows anything. It’s a very important part of the volunteers’ responsibility, that it’s kept confidential,” she says.
More Reasons than Just Alcohol
While the likely reason someone might call for a ride involves alcohol or parties, there are other reasons students use the service. Organizers are eager to promote the program for reasons other than that Wilton kids are over-indulging. “We’re hoping that more underclassmen will begin to use it more as they’re in the situations when they need it,” says Babchak. “It’s not just for when you’re under the influence or not in the right state to drive. It’s also if kids are stuck in town and they don’t have a ride home, if they’re in an uncomfortable situation. If they’re babysitting and the parents come home intoxicated, they can have Safe Rides pick them up from the babysitting job.”
For Schneider, the involvement runs close to her heart. When she was a student at Darien High School in 1981, there were several drunk-driving related deaths, and she was a key participant in starting the original, very first Safe Rides group.
“The fact that it’s national now and lives on is fantastic. When I heard Mike and Lauren were trying to get it off the ground last year, I called him immediately and said, ‘I am in!’ The fact that my daughter was interested in getting involved, and received an award for leaving a mark on the community, I never would have imagined 33 years ago this would be happening. That it’s still in existence and on college campuses and in towns all over the country, is meaningful.”
Both parents and kids appreciate the safety net. “I always told my daughter, ‘I don’t care what time it is or where you are, call me and I will get you no matter what.’ I think most parents say that, but if there’s a time we can’t be reached, or we’re in New York, it’s nice to know my kid can get home.”
Safe Rides is funded through a $25 registration fee for all volunteers, which covers additional insurance beyond each driver’s own coverage. But the group is hoping to find local sponsors to fund t-shirts, car decals, pizza for the volunteers. “We’re hoping to raise more money with sponsors and fundraisers,” Schneider says.
But something the Safe Rides team is incredibly grateful for already is the support they get from Trackside. “One of the reasons the program is so successful and the kids love it is thanks to the generosity of Trackside. A lot of towns work out of the basement of a church or a conference room of a community center, and they’re confined to one room with a table and 5 chairs. Allowing us to use the facility to operate out of allows the kids when they’re at Trackside to play pool or foosball, or Xbox–it really lends to the success of us recruiting volunteers. The buzz is it’s a really fun thing to do.”
The phone number to call for someone who needs a ride is 203.834.CARE (2273). Anyone interested in contacting the adults regarding sponsorship or funding support can email Mike Safko or Lisa Schneider.