They Pedal with a Purpose
FSU officer leads 1,100-mile journey for safety awareness
April 18, 2006

By Bill Cotterell
DEMOCRAT POLITICAL EDITOR


Led by a Florida State University policeman involved in fighting drunken driving, a half-dozen volunteers rolled down Apalachee Parkway on Monday, beginning an 1,100-mile bicycle trek to focus young minds on traffic safety.

"If this is what it takes to get the message about drunk driving to people, that's what we're going to do," said Lt. Jim Russell, chairman of the Leon County Multi-Agency DUI Strike Force.

The ride to Gainesville, Orlando, Boca Raton, Miami and Tampa will feature rallies and meetings with young people to promote seat-belt use and discourage drinking. Besides police agencies, it was coordinated by SAFE Inc., an organization of firefighters and paramedics who go into schools to show students the results of underage drinking, drunken driving and not using seat belts.

The distance is symbolically significant.

"We're dedicating one mile to each of the 1,100 people killed in a DUI accident each year," Russell said.

Joining him on the trek were Shawn Carroll of Sarasota, a captain with the Tampa Fire Rescue unit; FSU police officer Karin Clausen; Tampa firefighter William Poertner; Elinor "Zack" Slayer, a Tallahassee YMCA cycling instructor; and Ed Williams of Tallahassee, a Department of Health environmental program consultant.