The Redding and Easton Safe Rides program is up and running for the 2024-25 school year to provide free rides to Easton and Redding teenagers who cannot drive home for various reasons. The reasons may include the loss of a ride, not feeling safe riding with a planned ride, not being able to drive after curfew, or even discomfort being driven home from babysitting.
The program is not affiliated with Joel Barlow High School. Although most students who work with the service or use it are students from the high school, students from Easton and Redding who attend other high schools are encouraged to volunteer and use it as well.
“There is a narrative that has been pushed surrounding safe rides that it encourages kids to drink or engage in substance use,” according to Ella Hotchkiss, co-president of Safe Rides and a senior at Barlow. “But I think the biggest thing I would say is it’s just a safe way for your kids to get home whether or not they’ve been drinking.”
Lauren Klein Wassink, the other co-president and also a senior, said, “We’re here to support the community, not further encourage any behavior.”
The program is mainly student-run, but Beatrix Erickson and Maya Furrer are adult advisors this year. They help with management, community outreach, and other areas where the students might need guidance. In addition, a parent volunteers for each night that Safe Rides operates.
Safe Rides also works with the Redding Police Department and uses a special cell phone that is kept at the police department building when not in use. The Redding and Easton police departments have waived the under-18 driving policies for students on Safe Rides duty. This means they can drive with passengers and be out after 11 p.m. but only when they are volunteering.
The program has partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Redding and Easton, which provides a location where the students and captain on duty can prepare for any rides. Students reach the Safe Rides line and provide their name, cell phone number, address, and destination. The call is confidential. Once a call has been received, the Safe Rides captain sends out a driver and a navigator. The combination may be a boy and a girl or two girls. Two boys are never sent out together.
When asked about liability, Klein Wassink responded, “We have a partnership with the Kiwanis Club, and they have an umbrella insurance policy for us.”
If the driver and navigator were to get into an accident, the driver’s auto insurance would cover it. Students are required to show proof of insurance before participating. The group is also protected by Connecticut’s Good Samaritan law, which further shields the participants.
Easton and Redding offered a Safe Rides program in the late 1990s to early 2000s, but it eventually slowed to a halt and shut down. In 2016, there was a serious accident in Redding that involved underage drinking and included students from Redding, Easton, and Fairfield.
Barlow students Michael Klein Wassink and Luca Cerbin, who were Barlow students at the time, were deeply affected by the accident involving students they knew and cared about. They wanted to do something positive to prevent it from happening again.
In January 2017, they revived Safe Rides to offer their fellow teenagers a free, non-judgmental, and safe way to get home. Klein Wassink believed that reviving the Safe Rides of Easton and Redding program could prevent a serious accident from happening again.
Safe Rides is available on Friday and Saturday nights except during school holidays. It runs from 10 pm to 1 a.m. Messages will be posted on the Safe Rides Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/saferidesreddingeaston/. The group is always looking for additional volunteers.
If a student or parent wants to volunteer, they should send a direct message to the Safe Rides Instagram page. To request a Safe Ride, students should call 203-308-0604. Many students keep the number programmed into their phones for easy access.
