Arrive Alive hopes for busy holiday season

Now that Thanksgiving is over many people are planning holiday parties, and members of one local organization are hoping they'll be kept in mind.

Arrive Alive Inc. is a local nonprofit organization that provides rides to those who have had too much to drink.

Volunteers are on call between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m. daily. When a call comes in requesting their service, two drivers will arrive. One person will drive the intoxicated person home in the person's vehicle while the other follows in another vehicle. No questions asked.

"Our service is free and our drivers are volunteers," Marci Simmons, founder of the Arrive Alive Inc., said.

The organization opened its doors last December. Since then about 800 people have gotten rides home. Normally it receives an average of two to three calls an evening, Simmons said. Last Friday she received four calls. "It's picking up now as we're getting into the holidays."

Simmons said she's already getting calls from people planning office parties and looking for designated drivers.

"I had my own DUI years ago," she said. "There are many people who go out and plan to have a couple of drinks, get a little carried away and need their cars driven home."

Arrive Alive posters hang in local bars throughout the valley. Often, a bartender will call for the customer.

Volunteers commit to being on call two days a month or whatever time they can be available. Currently there are 15 volunteers, including a bartender, an accountant and a Metro Police officer. More volunteers are needed, Simmons said.

"It's very safe because we have these people going out in teams," she said. In the past year there have been no conflicts, she added.

The program is funded through private donations from a couple of local bars.

"Arrive Alive is great for people who didn't plan ahead," Erin Breen, director of Safe Community Partnership, said. "The No. 1 excuse for people to drive drunk is that they have to have their car in the morning. By driving the person home in their own vehicle, Arrive Alive takes that excuse away.

"Last year was a big year for alcohol-related (traffic) fatalities," she added. "Out of 14 fatalities in Clark County, eight of them were alcohol -- that's just Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve."

However, she added, "alcohol fatalities have been on a steady decrease over the past 10 years."

"Drinking and driving is becoming less socially acceptable," Breen said, thanks in large part to efforts made by organizations like Stop DUI and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Last year the number of DUI arrests made by Metro Police actually declined during the holiday season. Metro officers made 239 DUI arrests during November and December, Bill Redfairn, a detective on Metro's fatal detail, said. Normally Metro averages about 200 arrests each month, he said.

Breen said the decline in alcohol-related traffic fatalities shouldn't give people a false sense of security. There could be other contributing factors for the decline, such as better medical technology and faster paramedic arrival.

"For the average person the best defense is to wear a seat belt," she said.

archive