Alert Cab' program set to run New Year's Eve evening
MONROE - New Year’s Eve is a busy night for many area restaurants, bars and taverns, and The Captain’s Table in Monroe is no exception. Ray Hafenecker, owner of The Captain’s Table, said that while the main focus of his New Year’s Eve business is within the restaurant versus the bar area, he is hopeful that all his patrons remain responsible if they have a few too many drinks to celebrate 2008’s arrival. Hafenecker has always had a safe ride home program in effect at The Captain’s Table since “people drink 365 days a year.” At this time of year, he’s also hung posters about Dana Distributor’s free “Alert Cab” program, available for anyone who needs a ride home on New Year’s Eve so there are additional safeguards in place that night. “It’s nice that they’re doing this,” said Hafenecker. The “Alert Cab” program is run by Dana Distributors in Goshen, the area’s Anheuser-Busch distributorship, and ties into its vision that “responsibility matters” when drinking, according to Tom Kennedy, Dana Distributor’s consumer awareness and education coordinator. Law enforcement and elected officials will meet with representatives of Dana Distributors at its Goshen headquarters today to endorse the “Alert Cab” program and hear about Dana Distributor’s other programs focusing on alcohol abuse prevention. The 21st annual program available in Orange, Rockland and Sullivan counties - offers free rides home to New Year’s Eve celebrants at local restaurants, bars or taverns, who live no farther than 10 miles from the establishment they’re celebrating it, and who feel they’ve had too much to drink and need a ride home, Kennedy explained. The program is offered three times a year on key nights when it’s thought people may overindulge on drinking and there’s a lot of people out driving - St. Patrick’s Day night, Thanksgiving Eve and New Year’s Eve. The New Year’s Eve program beings at 4 p.m. on Dec. 31 and runs through 2 a.m. on Jan. 1. Participants will have had to drive their cars to those establishments, and surrender their car keys to the bartender or manager. In turn, that person will take those keys, place them into a special envelope and call the local participating cab company, who then drives them directly home, and returns the keys to them when they arrive home. Dana Distributors picks up the tab for the ride home by paying the contracted cab companies directly, although a few donate their services because they believe the cause is a worthy one, said Kennedy. In 2006, it spent approximately $2,000 in cab rides in the tri-county area, and Kennedy expects to spend more this year. “If a person is in an uncomfortable situation driving, here’s an alternative to driving,” said Kennedy. “It’s money well-spent if it helps one more person. Responsibility matters and we want to be part of the solution and not the problem.” Kennedy said 2006 saw a 104 percent increase in people taking advantage of the free cab ride program in the tri-county area over the previous year, and he is hopeful those numbers will rise for 2007. “We’re building momentum,” he said. “This is a safe way home.” In addition to the “Alert Cab” program, Dana Distributors is reminding patrons about the “Who’s Your Bud” designated driver program. This is an equally responsible way for patrons who have had too much to drink to get home safely, Kennedy added, by getting someone else who is acting as the designated driver to take them home. Hafenecker agreed about the importance of designated drivers. “Our job is to not over serve anyone, whether there is a designated driver or not,” he said. “But it is helpful to see there’s someone in charge. I think there’s greater awareness among the area’s licensees and patrons themselves. People are getting smart about it.” Participating Alert Cab’ Orange County cab companies include: Syndicate Taxi 8300, Middletown J & L Dispatching, Port Jervis Monroe Taxi, Monroe Tony’s Taxi, Newburgh Greenwood Lake Taxi, Greenwood Lake Robin’s Taxi, Middletown Cornwall Taxi, Cornwall