Safe Ride Effort a Bright Spot During Evening

BENNINGTON - New Year's Eve revelers celebrated responsibly this year with the aid of a safe ride program organized by the Bennington County Sheriff's Department. In its third year, the countywide program provided an estimated 250 free rides home from restaurants and bars over the weekend.

With six sheriff's patrols on area roadways that same night, Sheriff Chad Schmidt said his department made only one arrest for driving under the influence - a demonstrative decline in the number of arrests from a typical New Year's Eve before the free ride program was established, he said.

Bennington Police and Vermont State Police reported no DUI-related arrests or accidents in the area over the weekend, as of Sunday evening. Local law enforcement dealt with various incidents on New Year's Eve, including a disturbance on Main Street after midnight, but those came on foot and not by car.

The free ride program is organized in cooperation with Bennington Taxi, with the support of businesses and vans this year from the sheriff's department, Bennington College, and the Man of Kent Tavern.

Schmidt said while ridership was down from the year prior, volunteers were still busy after midnight and the service provided a greater number of rides than local taxi services could have likely provided otherwise.

Among those volunteering to drive for the program were a number of sheriff's deputies, Schmidt himself, Tom Lyons of Bennington Subaru, and state Auditor Thomas Salmon, who reprised his role as "Tom the driver" for a second year. Vans were stationed in Bennington and Manchester, and operated till after 2 a.m. Schmidt said the furthest distance he drove a group was from Bennington to Glastenbury, where the fog was especially thick.

Drivers said that revelers picked up at the end of the night were very appreciative and especially friendly. "It's a great service," said Lyons. Despite publicity beforehand, some participants only discovered their ride was free once they had arrived at their destination.

Salmon said one "excitable" rider, when he found out there was no charge, "grabbed my hand and really shook it... and said, 'Dude, that's so awesome.'" Another college student gave him a hug, while a third offered Salmon some French fries. He said the crowd trended younger this year, and on the way home Salmon said he heard about the bands that played at various venues.

"Nobody knew who I was, nobody - and that's fine," said Salmon, adding he just appreciated the opportunity, and that he hoped the program would be adopted elsewhere in the state. "You're trying to combine celebration with public safety," he said.

In a previous interview to the Banner, Schmidt said the cost to run the program was between $2,500 and $3,000, with much of the expense defrayed by donations from area businesses.

Salmon, a resident of St. Johnsbury, was aided by GPS and reported better familiarity with Bennington's roads this year, despite a patchy overnight fog in places.

"I'm going to start giving tours that include the Bennington Monument this summer," Salmon joked.

By: Zeke Wright
Featured in The Bennington Banner on 1/2/2012

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Safe Ride Effort a Bright Spot During Evening
1/2/2012

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