'Grueling, but it's worth it'
Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
By Jennifer Jefferson

It started Monday at Florida State University.

For the next 12 days, eight cyclists will trek across the state to raise awareness for seat-belt use and the importance of using designated drivers to fight drunken driving.

The cyclists, including founder and coordinator Jim Russell, who's also assistant chief of the Florida State University Police Department, and Sgt. Karin Clausen, an investigator at FSUPD, left Monday and will bicycle to Miami and back.

University of North Florida student Valeria Nolla will be riding with the cyclists.
“If I can send a message out there and I can save one person's life, that's all it takes,” she said. “It will be grueling, but it's worth it.”

The purpose of the ride is to raise money to educate young people about the importance of making the right decisions such as wearing seat belts, not allowing underage drinking and using a designated driver after drinking too much.

Last year, the Stay Alive From Education (SAFE) Ride cycling team rode 1,100 miles, Russell said.

The miles correlate with the number of lives lost in Florida.

There are 1,200 preventable alcohol-related motor-vehicle fatalities reported each year by the Florida Highway Patrol. More than 66 percent of those who died in safety-belt-equipped vehicles in Florida were not buckled up.

“Unfortunately, that means the number is going up,” Russell said. “We want to drive home the message that seat-belt use can save lives and those drunk-driving fatalities are 100-percent preventable.”

At FSU, alcohol abuse is still a problem among young people.

“Alcohol plays a large part of some of the decisions young people make,” FSU Police Chief David Perry said.

“Students make a lot of decisions the first time around,” said Mike Fischer, executive director of the Florida Student Government Association. “It's good to say, 'Do this. This is the right way to do it.' ”

“This method does work,” Perry said. “This generation is more visual. We really think that we are on the proactive side. We are not just operating in a vacuum.”