I would like to respond to Diane Huber’s article about the Designated Driver Shuttle (“Shuttle criticized for unsafe climate,” ODE 3/8). First of all, DDS is not Saferide. Saferide is a wonderful program, which I support. However, if you need to get home at 2:30 in the morning, call DDS. Please understand that your fellow riders have been partying all night. Adjust your expectations accordingly.
Apparently Melissa* doesn’t have a clear idea of what DDS is here for. DDS’s primary mission is to get inebriated University students home safely. You need to understand this when you get in the van. These are drunken students. They are not all going to be polite, they are not all going to be on their best behavior. The people that work for DDS understand this. Often the bad behavior is directed at us. People yell at us, curse us and threaten us. For the most part, unless it becomes physical, we ignore it. When Melissa spoke to the van operators about someone yelling “fuck” and apparently being boisterous and was told not to worry about it, it was probably because there was nothing to worry about. Our judgment of the difference between a dangerous situation and the standard behavior of drunks is probably better than Melissa’s. We’ve done this before.
Additionally, we don’t know you. We don’t know what relationships may exist between you and others that we pick up. People get on the vans and start hugging one another all the time; they also argue with one another. More than one couple has gotten in the van and proceeded to verbally rip one another apart. When they get dropped off they walk away with their arms around each other. We are not going to get involved in your personal relationships. If someone is physically touching you and you don’t want him or her to do so, you have to tell us. We can’t read minds. If someone is threatening you, you have to tell us. We are not monitoring people’s conversations. The person will be told to cease the activity. If they do not, their alternate choices are to get out of the van and walk home or have a conversation with DPS or EPD.
I can address the issue of the puking incident personally since I was the driver at that time. The girl puked all over my navigator. In addition to being a repulsive substance, vomit is a biohazard. Perhaps you’ve heard of AIDS and hepatitis? My navigator was not going to sit there, covered in vomit, the floor of the van awash in vomit, while we ferried you home. People were told to call the DDS office an have the other van scheduled to pick them up. Not to do so was their choice. Please have Ms. Wilkins send me her phone number. Next time I “presumably” go to clean vomit out of a van, I’ll call her to help me and she can “presumably” enjoy it as much as I did.
Life is often messy. People sometimes act inappropriately, they drink and use bad words. They burp, fart and vomit. Sometimes their actions irritate you. I’m sorry, but get over it. The purpose of DDS is to take drunks home. It is not to provide you with a Disneyland experience.