The Designated Driver Shuttle, which was shut down and taken over by the student government last week after repeated rules violations, remains closed. A review committee is brainstorming how the program will deal with situations involving students too intoxicated to take care of themselves and other issues that have come up in the past.
The committee is considering whether DDS, which taxis intoxicated students home from parties, should have the responsibility – legal or otherwise – to take highly intoxicated students to the hospital rather than dropping them off at home, said David Goward, DDS interim co-director and ASUO programs administrator.
It is not uncommon to pick up riders who are so drunk that they can’t take care of themselves, Goward said.
The review committee is also considering checking student identification cards and creating a sign-in sheet so DDS can document who rode the shuttle and when.
“These are issues that have been prevalent in the program for years but have never been addressed,” he said. So far nothing is set in stone, but the committee will meet Friday to begin drafting the DDS manual.
The ASUO Executive shut down DDS and fired several employees last week after former employees Eric Raney and Luke Ettinger, a co-director, were caught taking out vans during nonoperating hours during winter break. In total, five employees were terminated, including Ettinger and co-Director Travis Edwards.
The ASUO previously placed the shuttle on probation after alcohol containers were found in the DDS office in October. In May, Goward saw two dispatchers drinking in the DDS office and reported them to the Department of Public Safety.
The review committee is looking into how to deal with threatening riders and the consequences of kicking them out. Review member Liora Sponko is going to be trained so she can teach van certification training next month, Goward said. All DDS drivers are required to pass a test from the University’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety before driving a state motorpool vehicle, Goward said.
The committee is also trying to find a way to provide an educational aspect to the program, teaching students how to intoxicate themselves in a safer manner. Students’ incidental fees are contributing more than $94,000 to DDS this year.
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