Saferides imposter vehicle noticed
Two individuals impersonating SafeRides drove students home this weekend.
Posted on February 7, 2008
SafeRides PR Director Amy Sale said a group of five patrons called the Saferides office Saturday night. SafeRides policy allows only three patrons per car. Sale said two cars were dispatched to pick up the group.
When the navigator of the second car arrived to pick up the remainder of the group around 2 a.m. the patron answered his phone and said they had already gotten a ride home. The patron said they had gotten into a black car that pulled up after the first SafeRides car with a driver and passenger who identified themselves as members of SafeRides.
Sale, the director in charge for the night, called the patron and asked for more information. After identifying themselves as SafeRides the patrons got into the car. The driver stopped at a convenience store for matches, took them home and asked for money.
The patrons said there wasn’t any harassment, according to Sale.
“The patron said they were a little wary about the situation,” Sale said. “It just didn’t seem quite right, but they weren’t in the correct state of mind to put two and two together.”
According to Sale the driver and passenger in the non-SafeRides car did not follow any SafeRides protocol. They did not ask for the patrons JAC Cards, they were not wearing SafeRides trademark blue shirts and they did not ask the patrons to sign any form of a waiver.
“We do understand that it’s very important after what happened that we identify the car as well as the people inside the car,” Sale said.
SafeRides used to put magnets on the outside of the vehicles to identify them. However, after they were stolen last year they decided to discontinue that method. Sale said they are currently looking into car flags, like the kind used for football games.
- From Staff Reports
