The article below shows that drunk driving accidents in NJ are declining.  Even though it does not mention Safe Rides Unlimited or any other organization as a reason for the decline.  We at SRU would like to believe that the 1000 or more people that use SRU instead of driving drunk are the ones that should be praised.  With your help we have proven that people will make the right choice granted they have the available options.

When asked SRU Founder Moe Sattar commented on the article and thanked people who made the right choice by not driving drunk.

Article taken from: http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics-new-jersey.html

The number of alcohol-related deaths in New Jersey has dropped significantly from a high of 622 in 1982, to a low of 263 in 2005. The percentage of fatalities that were alcohol related has also dropped steadily, from a high of 59% in 1982, to a low of 35% in 1996 and 2005. In 2006, out of all traffic fatalities, 29% involved a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or higher.

The table above shows the total number of traffic fatalities (Tot) for the New Jersey, alcohol related fatalities (Alc-Rel) and fatalities in crashes where the highest BAC in the crash was 0.08 or above (0.08+).

All 50 states in the US now apply two statutory offenses to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The first (and original) offense is known either as driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated/impaired (DWI), or operating while intoxicated/impaired (OWI). This is based upon a police officer’s observations (driving behavior, slurred speech, the results of a roadside sobriety test, etc.)

The second offense is called “illegal per se”, which is driving with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. Since 2002 it has been illegal in all 50 states to drive with a BAC that is 0.08% or higher.

It is important to note that the New Jersey drunk driving statistics, as shown above, include data from individuals who were in an alcohol-related crash, but not driving a motor vehicle at the time. The U.S. Department of Transportation defines alcohol-related deaths as “fatalities that occur in crashes where at least one driver or non-occupant (pedestrian or bicyclist) involved in the crash has a positive Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) value.”

Few issues are more loaded or emotionally charged than drinking and driving. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the year 2005 saw 16,885 deaths as the result of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, with countless others that resulted in injuries, emotional trauma and jail time. A 2001 study by two economics professors, Stephen Levitt of the University of Chicago and Jack Porter of Harvard University, reported that “drunk drivers are at least 13 times more likely to cause a fatal car crash than sober drivers.” That may not come as much of a surprise, but this might: Drivers who had been drinking (but were not legally drunk) were seven times likelier than sober drivers to cause a fatal accident. There’s no denying the widespread misconception that driving after you’ve had “just a couple” is fine. Researchers have increasing proof that this isn’t the case, not by a long shot. Even if one’s blood alcohol level isn’t at or above the legal limit, the fact remains that drinking and driving is a selfish, dangerous gamble.

Why People Drink and Drive
Alcohol is a psychoactive substance, albeit a socially acceptable one. As a society, we drink for many reasons: to celebrate, to relax and to comfort ourselves during difficult times. It’s no surprise that we often refer to alcohol as a “social lubricant” – alcohol lowers inhibitions, often causing talkativeness and a general feeling of well-being that’s both physical and emotional. Happy hours, martini lunches, BYOB house parties, and cocktail receptions are integral parts of how we socialize. Because drinking is pleasurable and acceptable, it’s easy to forget that it impairs judgment. It’s even harder to bring this to mind after we’ve had a few and it’s time to drive home.

The aforementioned study revealed that between the hours of 1-3 a.m., an average of 25% of drivers on the road have been drinking. These numbers don’t lie: Plenty of people think it is fine to close the bar down and drive home. During these hours, approximately 60% of fatal car crashes are caused by drunk drivers. Another frightening statistic from that same study reports that “alcohol is a factor in 30% of fatal crashes, which cause 40,000 deaths each year and are the leading cause of death for Americans aged 6-27.”

The Very Real Consequences of Drinking and Driving
One of the most sobering and public examples of what can happen as a result of drinking and driving is the inspiring story of Jacqui Saburido. In September of 1999, at the age of 20, Jacqui and four friends were driving home from a party when their vehicle was struck by a drunk driver, 18-year-old Reggie Stephey. Two of Jacqui’s friends were instantly killed, and Jacqui survived against all odds. Over 60% of her body was burned as she was trapped in the flaming car; she lost all her hair, her nose, one of her eyelids, most of her vision, and some of the fingers on both hands. Jacqui has had over 50 reconstructive surgeries, but she still has a long way to go.

Reggie Stephey was sentenced to seven years in prison and a $20,000 fine following his 2001 conviction for intoxication manslaughter. In the blink of an eye, a drinking and driving accident took the life of Jacqui’s friends and as her site HelpJacqui.org says, “left her dependent, permanently disfigured and in constant pain.” Reggie Stephey has since spoken out against drinking and driving, urging the public to heed his warning: A moment’s bad decision can have consequences that are all too tragic and permanent.

Alcoholism Facts
Any discussion about the dangers of drinking and driving is incomplete without looking at the role of alcoholism. Alcoholism is a disease, and a very real and devastating one at that. Some estimates place the occurrence of this disease at 10% of the population or more. This may sound like an inflated estimate, in large part due to the public misconception that full-blown alcoholism involves living under a bridge and drinking nonstop out of a bottle inside a paper bag.

In reality, alcoholism occurs when a person has lost the power of choice when it comes to drinking. It progresses at different rates in different people, but alcoholism is always progressive. It can be arrested with treatment, but not cured. If, once you start drinking, you find you cannot stop or control the amount you drink, you may have a problem with alcohol.

One frightening symptom of alcoholism is the blackout, a dangerous situation in which the drinker experiences a sort of alcohol-induced functional unconsciousness. Many sober alcoholics have reported countless incidents of driving while in blackouts; they know that it happened because they made it home in their own vehicles, but they have absolutely no memory of driving, or of deciding to do so.

If you think you may have a problem with alcohol, there’s no shame in seeking help and information. Alcoholism is a chronic, progressive and fatal disease. AA.org is a good place to start looking for information about alcoholism and the 12-step method of addiction recovery. Treatment centers, counselors and addiction hotlines can also point you in the right direction if alcohol has caused you unwanted consequences. There is an abundance of information and support available for alcohol and drug addiction on the Internet and in virtually every local community.

In 2006, M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) reported that 17,602 people died in drunk-driving accidents, which averaged out to about one person every half hour. The countless deaths, injuries and legal problems caused by drinking and driving are needless. While it may seem inconvenient to call a taxi if you’ve been out drinking and need to get home, the risk of driving under the influence of alcohol is, quite simply, not worth it.

An estimated three out of 10 American adults will be involved in an alcohol-related car crash at some point in their lives. Don’t be the cause of one of these tragedies: Call a cab or designate a driver.

Do You Drink Too Much?
The one or two glasses of wine you drink at the occasional meal when you dine out are no big deal, but what about the standard two glasses of wine you have with every dinner? Could this love of Chardonnay mean that you drink too much? Many people wonder the same thing – whether or not their drinking habits are over the top. To find out if your drinking habits are out of control, answer these questions honestly in this drinking quiz.

Written By: Liz Davis for LifeScript.com on Nov 1,2007

That’s the new catch phrase in the Kahlua advertisements.  They could not have been more correct.   Drunk driving does start with an excuse “I’m not going to drink too much therefore its ok if I drive” “I’ll have one of my friends drive on the way back” “I’m not that drunk” “I’ve driven when I was in much worse shape so I’ll be ok”, the list can go on forever.  However the most important excuse has become embedded into our psyche “I don’t have any other way of getting to and from the club”.  In a survey conducted by SRU over 90% of people going out claimed how else would they get to and from the club.  These individuals claimed they didn’t think any drunk driving incident could happen to them. Worse yet all of the individuals claimed campaigns that instruct us to be responsible drinkers never even became a thought when going out. Lately alcohol industry has been placing messages at the end of their commercials such as “Drink Responsibly” etc.  When we asked, students remembered the ad but surprisingly said they didn’t remember the drink responsibility part or they didn’t really pay attention to it.  They all remembered the rest of the ad.  It seems that these drink responsibly ads have become more of a formality than to have an actual effect and therefore are being ignored.

Moe Sattar Founder of Safe Rides Unlimited said “All the messaging campaigns are great but they don’t really give us an actual alternative.”  He also stated that “college students and general public are more than accepting of a real solutions.  The proof of such a statement is in the phone calls that come in by the hundreds from people praising our services and making safe ride reservations.”

The bottom line in this whole thing is this.  Drunk driving can be reduced to nearly non existent if advertisers realize that instead of wasting money on messages, lets provide people with a choice.  A choice that would allow people to make the right decision.  A choice that will be a lot more effective in reducing alcohol industry liabilities.  A choice that will be profitable to all parties involved from the users to the providers. A choice that will make people responsible for their actions instead of blaming them on lack of alternatives. Safe Rides Unlimited is a testament to such a choice.

Lets allow our minds to become creative so we can get away from talking and start taking action.  Lets explore options and with that we will have made the greatest change in the old mentality.  A Mentality that did not allow you to even think about any available alternatives to a mentality that knows that we can be safe and have fun by simply using Safe Rides Unlimited.

Safe Rides Unlimited was mentioned in this Time Out NY article as a service providing affordable safe rides to people.

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/spas-sport/9097/safety-first

This is extremely important and will help safe ride grow and make its services available to everyone.  Please use the link in this post to read the petition posted by safe rides unlimited, if you agree with us please sign it so that we can gather as many signatures as possible. http://www.petitiononline.com/SRUSRU/petition.html

Safe Rides Unlimited and its staff greatly appreciates your support.

http://www.petitiononline.com/SRUSRU/petition.html

Thank you

Safe Rides Unlimited has been providing services to the greater New York and New Jersey area for over a year now. SRU’s growth can be credited mostly to word of mouth recommendations. SRU takes pride in the fact that it has been able to attract new users every day thru recomendations of other users. This proves without a doubt that SRU has a program that works and is extremely effective and efficient. SRU program is saving people money and providing them with a level of service and reliability they can not expect to recieve from any other safe ride system in the country.

On Friday Aug 22, 2008 Safe Rides Unlimited founder/president Amanat Moe Sattar informed that Safe Rides Unlimited has entered into contract with Cablevision subsidiary Rainbow Advertisments. The purpose of this contract is to bring the message to the masses by conducting a year long tv ad campaign. According to Mr. Sattar SRU is entering this contract because of tremendous success of the program and its ability to serve even more users every week. He hopes this campaign will help spread the message of a real available alternative to drunk driving faster and to a larger audience. This tv ad campaign will air over 50 ads per week starting with Northern NJ. Networks that will air ads include MTV, VH1, E, FX, Comedy Central and a few other popular channels. Mr. Sattar says he is very optimistic about the results from this campaign.

SRU currently provides over 500 people with safe ride services. Thats over 500 people that utilize the life saving roundtrip safe rides, pay no cover charges at clubs and don’t wait on any lines. According to Mr. Sattar, SRU safe rides require a per person donation of usually what most clubs charge for cover. In simpler words SRU rides are practically free if you consider that you would have to pay cover charge and/or wait on lines if you did not use SRU safe rides, not to mention SRU helps avoid all the other hassels that come along with driving if your going for a night on the town.

Safe Rides Unlimited and its staff started the year with extreme optimism and for good reasons. Safe Rides Unlimited had just finalized the pilot program that had been running for a little over 2 years. SRU’s innovative methods are proving to be extremely effective.

The idea that people can now get round trip luxury safe rides that cost normally as much as what someone would pay for cover charge at club. This makes the ride practically free since SRU users do not have to pay the covers or wait onlines at SRU member venues.

SRU’s initial obstacles were due to the fact most individuals could not believe they can prevent themselves from driving drunk and save money at the same time. It was hard to believe it can be so much fun to get the VIP experience as a reward for making the right choice. SRU utilized the support of its member venues to help spread the message. According to Amanat Moe Sattar Safe Rides Unlimited Founder/President; SRU would not be successful if they did not receive support from venue owners and individuals like Joe Barcelona (owner of Bliss formerly known as Joey’s) Sergio Tiggs and Tommy D who offered their guidance and help bring the program to the masses.

Today SRU is proud to say that its user base has grown to numbers that exceed all expections for a program just introduced to the general public. The results from pilot program were good but no one expected to providing over 500 safe rides a week as soon as they launched. Safe Rides Unlimited is looking forward to having an amazing and successful second half of the year.

All Safe Ride programs are initiated with the best of intentions. The people that start these programs really truly want to make a difference, most programs do make a difference but only a few are able to last. The main reason for many programs to fail is lack of funding. Safe Ride programs are usually designed to be dependent on outside funding, either thru major sponsors, donations or state. The question is why does the funding run out and the answer is simple once these safe ride programs start showing results, the funding disappears for the simple fact funders see it as mission accomplished no more reason to keep spending money. The truth is that at this is the time safe ride programs need funding the most to continue as their demand has grown and they need to sustain their operational costs.

The difference between all other Safe Ride programs and SRU is simple. SRU was designed as the first and only program to be self sustaining. SRU simply asks people to directly utilize their donation for a safe ride thru SRU. This donation amount is usually what they would pay as cover charge at most venues. In return of their donation SRU users receive a round trip Safe Ride to and from the club in luxury vehicles. This Safe Ride model helps pay for the operational costs and helps SRU be self sustaining. People can still donate but now their donation is immidiately giving them results in form of a safe ride.

Another major reason for Safe Rides Unlimited’s success is unlike most safe ride programs SRU welcomes alcohol serving venues into its efforts and utlizes their help to offer incentive to safe ride users. Incentives such as not paying cover charges or waiting on lines at clubs, such incentives actually make it cheaper for people to use safe rides than to drive. Safe Rides Unlimited has been growing at a steady pace since its inception and has not needed to solicit outside funds. Not to say SRU would not accept funding but the simple fact is SRU’s program is not dependent or suceptable to outside sources that may control its success.

Today Safe Rides Unlimited is providing safe rides to over 500 people every week and even though once in a while there are small issues, 99% of the time SRU is able to provide an extremely high level of service to its users. This is the reason why Safe Rides Unlimited is successful.

To whomever is reading this,

I would like to take this opportunity and introduce myself as the founder of Safe Rides Unlimited. If you got a late night phone call, as I did, informing you that a dear friend, or perhaps someone in your family had just died in an alcohol related accident I can only imagine how distraught you might be at that point. When this happened to me I was devastated! For days I couldn’t think straight, I couldn’t work effectively, and I crawled into a hole. I realized though there are many organizations providing victim services there were none or very few that were physically and effectively preventing the tragedies from happening. Then, I decided to “make lemonade out of a lemon.”

I formed the Safe Rides Unlimited a not for profit organization with several friends in 2004. Until now then there had not been an organization that is able to produce results like SRU. Already we keep more then 300 drunk drivers off the road every week! That’s over 1200 people we physically prevent every month from driving drunk by providing them with sensible, efficient and cost effective safe ride alternatives. AND THE NUMBERS ARE GROWING!!!

The SRU Program works like this:

• Our current safe ride users and new users going out to a restaurant, bar, or club call our 888 number and arrange to be picked up by SRU approved transportation from their house and delivered to their particular establishment and then back home later. The transportation is provided by a network of transportation affiliates at an extremely discounted rate to make it cost effective and appealing as an effective alternative. What makes this most effective is that SRU works with the establishments to offer incentives for using safe rides. Incentives such as no cover charges at some of the most popular bars/clubs in the tri-sate along
with avoiding to wait on lines. This is a simple and direct (practical) program that, thus far, has met with great success. But, we can and must do better!

Benefits:
1. The roundtrip completely eliminates their vehicle from their plans of night out.
2. Safe Ride Users Save money by not paying for gas, cover charges, parking, tolls etc.
3. SRU helps people to plan ahead with their friends and make all arrangements for them.
4. Bars are able to offer this to their current customers to utilize and to others that now can come to their establishment without the worries of drunk driving.

To any reasonable person the benefits are obvious as there are way too many to list.

The mission I undertook was not an easy one. I started this organization with a vision and a promise made to myself of never loosing the dedication to find alternatives to drunk driving that could save lives now and in the future. I had to make many personal sacrifices but I personally assure you I have not lost my drive. Today I can walk with my head high knowing how many of my peers appreciate these sacrifices, and show their appreciation by making the right decision for themselves and using safe rides with their friends.

Thank you,
Amanat M. Sattar
Founder
Safe Rides Unlimited
O. 888-656-SAFE
F. 973-582-0595
www.SafeRidesUnlimited.org

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