Students speak out against local drinking and driving

April 14, 2008

Drunken mistake No. 41 is going home with a Seminole — but at least you didn’t drive.

Posters around Gainesville listing similar drunken mistakes, including buying shots for the whole bar, are part of a local anti-drinking and driving campaign to remind students that although people do stupid things while drinking, nothing is worse than choosing to drive drunk.

University of Florida students lined up on April 2 to confess their own drunken mistakes on poster boards, as well as eat pizza, and collect free key chains and drink Koozies from Student Government’s new anti-drinking and driving program, Nightlife Navigators.

All the while, a wrecked car loomed in the background, reminding students of Nightlife Navigator’s purpose: to change the drinking and driving culture that is all too prominent.

The event, held on the North Lawn of the Reitz Student Union, drew more than 200 people over the course of the day and signaled the kickoff of the new Nightlife Navigators Web site, http://www.nightlifenavigators.com. The site compiles information that can help students plan their night out in advance, including phone numbers for cab companies, Regional Transit System Later Gator bus routes and more.

Gainesville Police Lt. Anthony Ferrera said that this is the first time he’s seen UF students make a true effort to curb drinking and driving on their own initiative.

“The best thing about this is that any information students get is going to help,” said Ferrera. “Even if they only get the number for a cab company, the site has worked.”

More than 60 people gathered around the demolished car when Student Body President- Elect Kevin Reilly stood to the program’s future.

“We plan to make Nightlife Navigators into a resource that goes far beyond a Web site, ensuring that drinking and driving is never the most convenient choice for students who need transportation,” said Reilly.

Reilly went on to say that one year earlier GPD Lt. Corey Dahlem was struck and killed by a non-student drunken driver celebrating UF’s national basketball championship.

Nightlife Navigators is a student-led response intended to honor Dahlem’s memory by preventing similar tragedies in the future.

Dahlem’s widow, Sally Dahlem, attended the event and spoke to those assembled. She told students, administrators and police officers that while she understands what college students are exposed to, drinking and driving is never an option.

“We don’t want any families to go through what we have gone through,” she said.