Safe Ride Home program rolls again on New Year’s Eve

Beginning 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve and continuing into the wee hours of New Year’s Day, three vans manned by volunteer drivers will be standing by in Island City and La Grande, ready to give a safe, free, no-questions-asked ride home to anyone who calls 541-963-5022.

“Last New Year’s, we transported more than 200. The community is aware of the program and is using it a lot more, and that’s great,” Hopkins said.

The program’s roots go back to July 17, 1997, the day Loveland’s best friend, Brett Marten, died in a drunk driving crash in Colorado.

Nobody thought it would happen, not in a million years. Marten was a good driver, someone who always seemed in control, even in dangerous situations.

But alcohol made a tragic difference.

“I never imagined he’d lose control of his car, even if he was drinking. Well, I was wrong,” Loveland, owner of Loveland Funeral Chapel, said.

Marten’s death devastated Loveland and, following a period of mourning, it spurred him to action.

Using his own vehicles and paying for gas out of his own pocket, he started his Safe Ride Home program in La Grande on New Year’s Eve 2001.

The concept was simple. People with too much to drink that night could call Loveland at his funeral home, and get a ride anywhere in La Grande and Island City, free of charge and no questions asked.

Only a few calls came in that first year. But Loveland kept at it. Word spread and more — many more — people began to get the message.

Working closely with Hopkins, Loveland expanded the program to include other events, especially the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show and the Elgin Stampede. He plans to go on growing the program.

“Eventually, we want to do every major event in Union County where alcohol is served,” he said.

But as the program has grown, so has its cost. At different times, Loveland has paid for vehicle rentals, and has gone on shelling out money for fuel.

A couple of years ago, District Attorney Tim Thompson, head of the Union County Victim’s Impact Panel, took a hand, offering some of the money the panel assesses people who take DUI diversion classes.

During recent Safe Ride Home events, Victim Impact Panel money has paid for one-half to two-thirds of the gas costs.

M.J. Goss Motors, Legacy Ford and Frontier Motors all help out as well, furnishing the program with vans.

This New Year’s weekend, police agencies and the Oregon Department of Transportation are teaming in a campaign against drunk driving.

According to a news release from the Oregon State Police, state, county and local agencies will be on high alert 6 p.m. Friday through midnight on Monday. ODOT meanwhile will display variable message boards along highways, bearing the message “Drive sober or get pulled over.”

“There is nothing to celebrate sitting in a jail cell,” said Randy Blanton, Deschutes County sheriff and president of the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association. “Don’t let your holiday season end in an arrest or something worse.”

Lt. Derick Reddington of the La Grande Police Department said his agency hopes to put extra resources on the streets during the holiday period.

“The officers will be on guard and making stops for even the most minor violations to make sure we don’t have people driving impaired,” Reddington said.

Reddington also said he and other officers appreciate Loveland’s Safe Ride Home program.

“It’s becoming a fantastic program. Every year it gets bigger and better,” he said.

Statewide, Oregon State Police reported 79 drivers arrested over last year’s New Year holiday period.

One person died in an Oregon traffic crash during last year’s 78-hour reporting period. On average in Oregon, five people die in crashes each year during the holiday weekend.

Once again, the number to call for a Safe Ride Home this weekend is 541-963-5022.