STRIPES seeks younger drivers
An agreement with Avis made 19 the new driving age for STRIPES.
Published Jan. 26, 2009
The safe-ride organization STRIPES begins running this weekend, and it's using younger drivers for the first time.
"What's really good about this semester, and what's going to be different, is we're actually going to be able to use the 19-year-old drivers," STRIPES Director Tanner Tucker said.
Former STRIPES Director Domingo Pacheco worked with MU Business Services and Avis Rent A Car in order to change the driving age policy, which according to STRIPES' former contract with Enterprise Rent-A-Car allowed only students 21 years and older to drive.
Tucker said using younger drivers would change the way STRIPES membership works.
"People can't just come in on any random night anymore and volunteer just whenever they feel like it," Tucker said. "This is part of our agreement with Avis."
Instead, STRIPES plans to have one set group of members, each of which is required to volunteer at least five nights throughout the semester. Students can apply to be members until Feb. 6.
"We've already gotten several applications," Tucker said. "I get an e-mail every time someone submits an application and I've been getting e-mails all day, almost every day."
With the new agreement, STRIPES members are also required to attend a risk management seminar to learn about safety and emergency procedures.
"The goal is to get anybody ready for any possible situation, even though 90 percent of them have never happened at STRIPES," Tucker said. "We get everybody prepared, so it's not like they're going in there for the first time, so they know exactly what to do in an emergency."
To encourage students to sign up, STRIPES plans on advertising a number of different ways, including stationing cars in both Lowry Mall and Speakers Circle.
"We're really just trying to explain to people that 19 really just is the age you need to be able to drive now," Tucker said.