Safe Ride struggles to get the campus involved
Out of 25 students asked if they had
ever ridden on Safe Ride, only four
of them said they hadn’t. But if it is so
popular campus wide, why is there such
a shortfall of volunteers willing to drive?
With incentives like food and getting
paid, why wouldn’t any hungry and money-
lacking college student want to drive
or volunteer?
“The problem that I run into is that the
same people are volunteering for Safe
Ride. Something does not sit right with
me calling on the same people night after
night to make Safe Ride happen for all
these people,” said Adam Diemar, senior
and first-year coordinator of Safe Ride.
Diemar explained that the Safe Ride
program is extremely popular with most
college students on campus, but the number
of people coming forward to volunteer
is far less than what is expected. And
with the increase of enrollment at the college
and the new hype that a bar in Rutland
the Local has created, demands from
students are coming for Safe Ride to expand
their nights.
With Safe Ride already planned for every
weekend of the year and volunteers
already slim for those nights, Wednesdays
-another popular night for partying
– has been tough to cover, Diemar said.
“The biggest problem with Safe Ride,
I would assume, from the point of view of
the person using Safe Ride, is that it has
not run every night that we had planned to
run,” said Diemar.
Another reoccurring problem with Safe
Ride seems to be the abuse by people using
it as an easy way to get from one party
to another. The purpose of the program is
to get partiers home safely, home being
the key word.
But driver Wayne Thornton said that
intent isn’t being adhered to.
“Yeah it’s something that happens all
the time because you don’t know if they
live there or not,” he said. And when
asked how often this happens he said “I
don’t know quite a bit, hard to put a number
to it, but at least six to seven times a
night.”
Sophomore Grant Davis spoke
about how Safe Ride has been different
throughout his two years here and also
spoke about how the idea is a great way
to be safe.
“I think Safe Ride is a great campus
idea giving the students a safe alternative
to get where they’re going,” he said to
start off.
But when asked about his thoughts
about the lack of volunteerism, his tone
changed.
“I think that is quite a problem. For the
amount of people that use it there should
be more people stepping up to help,” he
said, adding that he would consider it, but
he can’t because to get a fleet license you
have to be 21.
With the campus growing every year
and with people looking for more ways to
explore and get out and get home safely,
some like Diemar question whether Safe
Ride will continue to be a viable option.
“The point that I am trying to make is
that for Safe Ride to run, there will have
to be more of a shared effort from the
campus community as to not put all the
strain on the select few that always seem
to be helping out,” he said.