Ride for Survival Team 2006

Ride For Survival Founder & Coordinator:

Jim Russell, age 36– Tallahassee. Lieutenant,
Florida State University Police Department and
Chair of the Leon County Multi-Agency DUI Strike
Force. Jim is committed to increasing the number
of seatbelt users in Florida and decreasing the
number of alcohol-related fatalities and injuries.
Jim knows that prevention education contributes
to successful results and outcomes and he
encourages Floridians to keep making
responsible choices. Jim also knows that
education initiatives such as S.A.F.E. are in
critical need of funding in order to educate and
drive home the message to young people. Rather
than sit back and hope someone else would
make it happen, Jim decided to take this
commitment into his personal life and engage
other First Responders who wanted to be part of
the solution. He and his wife, Terri Sue Aldridge-
Russell, developed the Ride for Survival as a
visible and healthy way to build awareness and
raise funds to help the 16-year-old, non-profit
S.A.F.E. (Stay Alive From Education) Program
deliver more Street Smart prevention education
programs to high school and college students
throughout Florida. These continued education
efforts will help young people to increase seatbelt
use, decreasing the number of impaired drivers
and help prevent some of the 1,100 fatalities
which occur in Florida each year as a result of
alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes.

Shawn Carroll, age 42– Sarasota. Captain,
Tampa Fire Rescue and co-owner of Visionary
Mortgage. Any chance to raise awareness and
money to support the S.A.F.E. program is
important to Shawn. Time and again Shawn
meets people who have experienced a tragic
incident involving a drunk driver or seatbelts-
either being saved by a seatbelt or in many
cases, lives needlessly lost due to not wearing a
seatbelt. His professional life exposes him to
some of life’s darker moments. Shawn believes
building awareness about S.A.F.E. through the
Ride for Survival can brighten the future for many
young people and their families.

Karin Clausen, age 37 – Tallahassee. Police
Officer, Florida State University Police
Department Karin has seen many lives forever
changed or lost because of impaired driving and
the failure to wear seatbelts. As the mother of a
teenage son, Karin is also deeply committed to
reaching as many young people and parents as
possible. She is encouraging everyone to
challenge their friends and colleagues to make
a donation on-line at www .RideForSurvival.com
to increase funding for Street Smart, S.A.F.E.’s
gripping interactive program. Over the past 16-
years, Florida firefighters/paramedics have
donated their time and resources to present the
life-saving education program to over 200,000
young adults across the nation.

William Poertner, age 33 – Tampa. Firefighter,
Tampa Fire Rescue. In 1993, William’s younger
brother was killed in a motor vehicle crash at the
age of 17 after driving impaired. William and his
family have firsthand experience with the
overwhelming grief, pain and frustration that
comes with losing a loved one in a preventable
tragedy. William is converting the physical and
mental anguish associated with cycling 1,100
miles into a positive vision for more young
drivers and passengers to walk away from
potentially fatal accidents because they made
responsible choices. He contends that S.A.F.E.
educates young people on two vitally important
life-saving topics- seat-belt use and the real-life
dangers of driving or riding when someone who
is impaired. William is committed professionally
and personally to saving lives and helping to
prevent senseless tragedies.

Elinor “Zack” Slayer, age 34– Tallahassee. Full-
time Mom, part-time YMCA Y-Cycle Instructor and
avid cyclist. Zack is the active mother of two
young sons, ages three and five. However, Zack
was so moved by the RFS team’s personal
commitment to spread the word across Florida
about S.A.F.E. that she garnered the support of
her husband and family and joined the RFS team
only weeks before the ride was to start April 17.
Zack is a strong believer in actively working to
making a difference in one’s community and
believes funding prevention education will help
save the lives of young people now and in the
future.

Ed Williams, age 37 – Tallahassee. Florida
Department of Health -Environmental Health
Program Consultant. At the age of 18, Ed was a
passenger in a vehicle that was hit by a drunk
driver. He was told he would never walk again,
remained in an Intensive Care unit for two
months and endured dozens of surgeries over a
two-year period. He is now a parent and
dedicated athlete. Since 2001 Ed has cycled
competitively, racking up over 20,000 miles. In
2004 Ed cycled across the country in 40-days,
collecting close to $15,000 dollars for the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Ed is also a
YMCA Y-Cycle instructor. Ed takes his second
chance at life very seriously. He is committed to
educating others about the dangers drunk
drivers present and to help teach young people
that poor choices can have life-altering, and
often fatal, impacts. As a survivor, Ed helps to
drive home the point that by consciously
deciding to make responsible choices a part of
your everyday life, individuals have the power to
help prevent such tragic incidents from occurring.