May 11
...serving up your daily dish.
Bloomfield Councilman Ray Tamborini, who recently plead guilty to driving while intoxicated, says he’s turning his lemons into lemonade. Tamborini is spearheading a program for drinkers who have one too many from getting behind the wheel - by giving them a free ride home. From the Independent Press:
He has already incorporated a non-profit service group called “LifeVEST,” which is an educational and deterrence group focused on impaired drivers.
Initially, LifeVEST will be a service organization which is geared toward keeping inebriated bar-goers from getting in their cars. Volunteers will be on-call with the “Safe-Rides” program, which will have a two-person team driving patrons home from establishments all over town. The backup plan is the “Go-Safe” plan, which provides participating restaurants and bars with vouchers for cab rides from local transportation companies. The “Red-Ribbon” program is another volunteer program by which any patron trained to be a volunteer driver can designate themselves as such by wearing a ribbon. On a night afterward, they are then compensated with chips for complimentary drinks.
The other aspect of the program involves free educational programs offered to the schools, civic organizations and private entities and to designated drivers. Potential scholarships were also mentioned by the councilman. It’s a trail that has been blazed by other organizations across the country.
Tamborini said he’s looking for funding from national companies like Anheuser Busch and support from local bars. Call us crazy, but isn't it a bit ironic to offer free drinks to volunteer drivers for getting drunks home safely?
"The “Red-Ribbon” program is another volunteer program by which any patron trained to be a volunteer driver can designate themselves as such by wearing a ribbon."
Has anyone thought this through?
A volunteer is going to give a drunk stranger a ride home?
Crazy.
Posted by: Right of Center™ | May 11, 2006 10:38:50 AM
So, a la DeCamp suing NJ Transit for running Midtown Direct, can Bloomfield taxi drivers now sue for the "taking" of their business driving drunks home?
Posted by: appletony | May 11, 2006 10:39:09 AM
Montclair Taxi
Montclair, NJ 07042
(973) 744-6778
Montclair Car Service Inc
155 Valley Road, Montclair, NJ 07042
(973) 509-0277
(877) 509-0277 (toll-free)
www.montclaircarservice.com
Bloomfield Taxi & Limousine
The Reliable One
570 Bloomfield Avenue, Bloomfield, NJ 07003
(973) 743-4300
Being responsible enough to know your limit - free, no phone call needed.
Posted by: hrhppg | May 11, 2006 10:41:45 AM
And wasn't Mr. T. driving a town vehicle when he had his accident? It sounds to me like this guy is addicted to having someone else pay for his rides.
Posted by: TwinDad | May 11, 2006 11:27:43 AM
I just love it...the reward compensation is to get the volunteer driver drunk the next night.!!!!
Posted by: Byron | May 11, 2006 11:29:54 AM
Say, does the reward free drink(s) qualify as compensation which makes the driver an unlicensed driver for hire?
Posted by: Byron | May 11, 2006 11:31:41 AM
and what happens if the "driver" gets into an accident while driving an druken stranger home--and what happens if a male driver or female gets accused of some foul crime from the drunk?---or vica versa-----
Genuis!
Posted by: cstarling | May 11, 2006 11:48:17 AM
It was my informal training years ago that helping drunks get a ride home is enabling them. Even calling a taxi for them.
The downside is the increased potential for accidents when a drunk gets behind the wheel.
Isn't part of the problem is drunks don't realize they are drunk or impaired. What would have convinced Tamborini to cut back on the booze aside from a highly publicized accident (if that really has done the trick).
Posted by: goldfinch | May 11, 2006 11:48:36 AM
I thought about the driving a drunken stranger home thing.
And then I thought of every horror movie, where I cringe under a blanket with my stuffed dog yelling, don't get in that car, or don't pick up that hitchhiker.
Here's my pitch –
Ominous music. Scene of girl driving a car, she seems happy. Then the windshield wipers swipe across the windshield leaving a think covering of gore, we zoom in on the girls face as she screams in terror….
Voice over
“What started out as an innocent community project, turned into Bloomfield’s Bloodbath."
Posted by: hrhppg | May 11, 2006 11:52:53 AM
and i meant to spell it wrong (however an should be a)
Posted by: cstarling | May 11, 2006 11:53:22 AM
what did you mean to spell wrong druken, genuis or vica versa?
Posted by: BobR | May 11, 2006 12:02:37 PM
lol- I'm heading to OBAL's-never mind-my fingers are living a life all their own...
Posted by: cstarling | May 11, 2006 12:19:15 PM
CStarling:
Or, as my dad is fond of saying, "Geni-ass!"
Posted by: talliewoo | May 11, 2006 1:03:11 PM
Will they let you stop for flapjacks on the way home?
Posted by: jack daniels | May 11, 2006 1:35:33 PM
Nice thought behind the idea, but this is a bad bad bad idea. Way too many legal ramifications that will lead to the town being sued and us taxpayers having to foot the bill.
Posted by: D | May 11, 2006 1:39:08 PM
This is "the worst idea in the long sad history of bad ieas!"
10-pts to the first person that gets the reference.
Hint: They are making the 4th movie
soon!
Pete had 10pts from yesterday
Posted by: D | May 11, 2006 1:44:55 PM
Or, as my dad is fond of saying, "Geni-ass!"
I, too, am a big fan of Barbara Eden in her prime.
Posted by: Bob | May 11, 2006 2:21:24 PM
maybe we can get ray to meet us at obal's inn over a few pabst to talk about the plan. beer nuts for everyone.
Posted by: Iceman | May 11, 2006 2:22:15 PM
but I am not a big fan of taking the dinos off the island...
Posted by: Bob | May 11, 2006 2:22:26 PM
"the worst idea in the long sad history of bad ieas!"
Jurrasic Park?
Posted by: hrhppg | May 11, 2006 2:22:37 PM
