Ride For Survival 2006

Cyclists raise awareness of drunk driving

By Tommy Graham

Special to The Sun
April 18. 2006 9:13AM

Six cyclists from the 180 Energy Cycling Team are scheduling a stop today at the University of Florida's
Reitz Union from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to raise awareness for the approximately 1,100 lives lost in
the state each year due to drunken driving.

The cyclists are touring the state on a "Ride for Survival," which will take them from one end of Florida to
the other. The ride is not only in support of April being Alcohol Awareness Month, but also to gain
support for the nonprofit education organization known as Stay Alive From Education. SAFE is a group
composed of firefighters and paramedics that has met with more than 200,000 youths across the nation
to encourage them to "make responsible decisions" about teen driving, drunken driving and illegal drugs
use.

The 12-day, 1,100-mile journey is a mile-by-mile tribute to the number of preventable alcohol-related
motor vehicle deaths.

The stop in Gainesville is one of six stops the group will make across the state. They plan to meet with
the public and the UF Student Government Association as well as the Gainesville Responsible
Hospitality Partnership in an effort to raise public awareness and garner financial support for Florida's
SAFE program.

"We see this as a healthy approach to show our commitment to be part of the solution to end senseless
tragedies," said Lt. Jim Russell, Florida State University Police Department and lead cyclist. "We are
cycling across Florida to drive home the message that drunk-driving fatalities are 100 percent
preventable."

SAFE also teaches the importance of seat-belt use. Members of SAFE have previously met with
students as part of its Street Smart program. They quote the Florida Highway Patrol statistic that
indicates more than 66 percent of those who died in safety-belt equipped vehicles in Florida were not
buckled up.

For more information on SAFE and the 180 Energy Cycling Team visit www.rideforsurvival.com.

They pedal with a purpose
FSU officer leads 1,100-mile journey for safety
awareness

By Bill Cotterell
DEMOCRAT POLITICAL EDITOR

Led by a Florida State University policeman involved in
fighting drunken driving, a half-dozen volunteers rolled
down Apalachee Parkway on Monday, beginning an
1,100-mile bicycle trek to focus young minds on traffic
safety.

"If this is what it takes to get the message about drunk
driving to people, that's what we're going to do," said Lt.
Jim Russell, chairman of the Leon County Multi-Agency
DUI Strike Force.

The ride to Gainesville, Orlando, Boca Raton, Miami and
Tampa will feature rallies and meetings with young
people to promote seat-belt use and discourage
drinking. Besides police agencies, it was coordinated by
SAFE Inc., an organization of firefighters and
paramedics who go into schools to show students the
results of underage drinking, drunken driving and not
using seat belts.

The distance is symbolically significant.

"We're dedicating one mile to each of the 1,100 people
killed in a DUI accident each year," Russell said.

Joining him on the trek were Shawn Carroll of Sarasota,
a captain with the Tampa Fire Rescue unit; FSU police
officer Karin Clausen; Tampa firefighter William
Poertner; Elinor "Zack" Slayer, a Tallahassee YMCA
cycling instructor; and Ed Williams of Tallahassee, a
Department of Health environmental program consultant.

Contact Bill Cotterell at (850) 671-6545 or
bcotterell@tallahassee.com.

Originally published April 18, 2006

Ride for survival peddles awareness across Florida

By RACHEL B. ANDERSON
Alligator Contributing Writer
Jennifer Walker / Alligator
Wednesday, April 19, 2006 1:00 a.m

The Florida Stay Alive for Education cycling team arrives at the Reitz Union Colonnade on Tuesday
morning to talk about drug and alcohol-related deaths. After already peddling more than 155 miles, a
six-member cycling team made its first public stop Tuesday in Gainesville at the Reitz Union to promote
seat belt use and awareness of drug and alcohol-related traffic deaths.

Two police officers, two firefighter paramedics, a concerned mother and an environmental-health
consultant are riders in the first 180 Energy Ride for Survival.

The 1,100-mile, 12-day trek across Florida began Monday in Tallahassee as part of Alcohol
Awareness Month. From Gainesville, the cycling team will head toward Orlando, then Boca Raton,
Miami and ultimately back north to the University of South Florida in Tampa on April 28.

Each mile covered pays tribute to a victim of the 1,100 alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities reported
annually by the Florida Highway Patrol.

Young people between the ages of 16 and 24 are less likely to put on seat belts than those in any
other age group, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Florida State University Police Lt. Jim Russell co-founded the Ride for Survival with his wife in order to
educate young drivers.

Russell said his life was forever changed when he came across an accident while on the job about six
or seven years ago.

On that day a car carrying intoxicated students crashed into a tree. The driver was holding a young,
dying passenger in his lap, and Russell said he couldn't get into the crumbled car to help.

"I just remember [the driver] looking up at me with him in his lap saying, 'Please help my friend! Please
help my friend!'" Russell said. "That has haunted me for a long time."

The young man died minutes later, still in his friend's arms.

"It's a helpless feeling not being able to do something for somebody," he said.

Besides raising awareness, the cyclists are raising money for Florida Stay Alive From Education, also
known as S.A.F.E.

A nonprofit organization, S.A.F.E. uses a school program called Street Smart to take young people into
the real-life drama experienced by paramedics as they work to save lives in alcohol-related accidents.

Anheuser-Busch Inc., the major corporate sponsor of Ride for Survival, works with S.A.F.E. to put on
Street Smart presentations. The company donated $10,000 for the April bicycle ride named after the
company's energy drink.

The company's Southeast region manager for Consumer Awareness & Education, Mandy Llanes, said
Street Smart makes the donation well worth it.

Although each presentation is very graphic, he said "it is done in such a manner that students get it."

UF classical studies junior Guadalupe Lawrence said drinking and driving is a serious problem,
especially on UF's campus.

"I feel like, honestly, that cops kind of turn their heads sometimes because they know that this town
lives off the college and the students," she said.

Russell said the group is using secondary roads free of high traffic, and each mile is specifically
mapped out.

To stay up to date with the team's journey or to donate to the cause, visit www.rideforsurvival.com.