01 DELMAR GUILD 10.pdf - Pirate CNY
01 DELMAR GUILD 10.pdf - Pirate CNY
01 DELMAR GUILD 10.pdf - Pirate CNY
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The Spotlight January 6, 2<strong>01</strong>0 Page 9<br />
Safe Ride Program delivers many happy returns<br />
Initiative is labeled<br />
a success, despite large<br />
drop in number of calls<br />
By RYAN MUNKS<br />
Munksr@spotlightnews.com<br />
Albany County Executive<br />
Michael Breslin announced<br />
the 2009-10 Safe Ride Program<br />
at a Wednesday, Dec. 30, press<br />
conference at the County<br />
Executive’s office in Albany.<br />
The intention of the program<br />
was to create a safer New<br />
Year’s by providing free rides<br />
to revelers as one of the many<br />
alternatives to driving while<br />
intoxicated.<br />
The program was<br />
administered between the<br />
hours of 10 p.m. Dec. 31 and 3<br />
a.m. Jan. 1.<br />
“We want to make sure<br />
everyone understands they<br />
have a choice,” said Breslin.<br />
“We [Albany County] have<br />
not had fatalities since we<br />
started this program,” and<br />
said his hope is that trend will<br />
continue.<br />
Breslin’s goal was realized<br />
the following night. In total,<br />
the Safe Ride Program received<br />
102 calls and transported 261<br />
people home. There were no<br />
alcohol-related personal injury<br />
crashes, or alcohol-related<br />
fatalities, continuing a trend<br />
started in 1982.<br />
There were seven DWI<br />
arrests countywide during<br />
the night. One arrest was for<br />
driving while ability impaired<br />
(DWAI), with a blood alcohol<br />
content that tested between<br />
0.05 and 0.07. Three arrests<br />
were for DWI, with a BAC<br />
between 0.08 and 0.18.<br />
Finally, three arrests were for<br />
Aggravated-DWI, with a BAC<br />
over 0.18.<br />
According to Staff Sgt.<br />
Lenny Crouch, the program<br />
was started in 1982. Last year,<br />
however, “Safe-Ride” was not<br />
in effect due to difficulty in<br />
managing vehicles for the<br />
program.<br />
This year, the program was<br />
held at a cost of about $7,800,<br />
which was covered by the<br />
Stop-DWI Program. Crouch<br />
said additional financial<br />
assistance for the program was<br />
provided through a donation<br />
from the Albany Rensselaer<br />
County Restaurant and Tavern<br />
Association.<br />
“We will provide you with<br />
a safe ride home, H.O.M.E.,<br />
home,” said Breslin, referring<br />
to the fact that rides will not<br />
be provided to other locations<br />
other than the person’s home,<br />
notably other New Year’s<br />
celebrations.<br />
Revelers were also given the<br />
option to rely on the Law Firm of<br />
Martin, Harding, and Mazzotti,<br />
PC for a free ride home, if<br />
needed. Daniel DaGostino,<br />
an associate attorney at the<br />
firm, was on hand at the press<br />
conference to speak about the<br />
free-ride program.<br />
According to DaGostino, the<br />
law firm has been providing<br />
free rides to people during<br />
major holidays for more than<br />
10 years. DaGostino said<br />
the law firm has provided<br />
more than 700 rides over the<br />
course of 2009, with 71 cab<br />
rides provided during the<br />
most recent effort over the<br />
Thanksgiving holiday.<br />
Breslin summed up the goal<br />
of the joint effort by saying,<br />
“We don’t want to find a really<br />
bad situation we could have<br />
avoided.”<br />
Of note is the significant<br />
drop when comparing the<br />
2007-08 effort to the recent<br />
2009-10 effort. Since 2007-08,<br />
the amount of calls dropped 70<br />
percent, from 341 to 102. The<br />
amount of people transported<br />
decreased by 73 percent, from<br />
961 people to 261.<br />
“Obviously, the big thing is<br />
no [alcohol-related] crashes,<br />
or fatalities,” said Crouch.<br />
Speaking of the drop in calls,<br />
he said, “It’s clear people took<br />
advantage of other forms of<br />
transportation.”<br />
When asked about what<br />
accounts for the reduction<br />
in calls from two years ago,<br />
Breslin said, “It’s largely a<br />
measure of public awareness<br />
… people are taking the matter<br />
into their own hands.”<br />
Breslin said he believes<br />
the program will continue,<br />
despite the drop in number<br />
of calls, because there will<br />
always be people who will<br />
find themselves in need of the<br />
service on the holiday.<br />
“The biggest measure [of<br />
success] is we have not had a<br />
fatality in 27 years,” he said.<br />
Delmar explosions still under investigation<br />
Police are still investigating<br />
a series of explosions and a<br />
subsequent fi re that consumed<br />
a Delmar house and sent a teen<br />
to the hospital on Dec. 19.<br />
“It continues to be investigated<br />
as a tragic incident,” said<br />
Bethlehem Police Lt. Thomas<br />
Heffernan. “There’s nothing<br />
else that can be released at this<br />
point.”<br />
Area police, fi re and emergency<br />
responders converged on 151<br />
Adams Place that Saturday after<br />
receiving reports of explosions.<br />
Responders pulled 15-year-old<br />
Keenan Sanchez from the home,<br />
and he was later transported to<br />
the Westchester Medical Center<br />
Burn Unit for treatment.<br />
Hospital spokesman David<br />
Billig said that Sanchez’s<br />
condition has been upgraded<br />
to “good,” and he remains in<br />
the burn unit—the teen was<br />
brought into the hospital in<br />
critical condition. Billig declined<br />
to comment on any injuries<br />
Sanchez might have sustained.<br />
Police said that it has been<br />
determined that Sanchez was<br />
in the basement at the time of<br />
the fi rst explosion, but they are<br />
still waiting for an opportunity<br />
to interview him to find out<br />
what chemicals may have been<br />
involved in the explosion and<br />
Just married<br />
or engaged?<br />
Call 439-4949 for an<br />
announcement form.<br />
what Sanchez was doing with<br />
them.<br />
“We’re still waiting for his<br />
health to improve enough to<br />
sit down with him,” Heffernan<br />
said.<br />
Check www.spotlightnews.<br />
com or future editions of The<br />
Spotlight for more on this story.<br />
– Charles Wiff<br />
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Albany County Executive Michael Breslin announces the 2009-2<strong>01</strong>0 Safe-<br />
Ride Program at a Wednesday, Dec. 30, press conference at the County<br />
Executive’s offi ce in Albany. Ryan Munks/Spotlight<br />
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