Happy SafeRides Week! For those who don’t know, SafeRides is a non-profit organization at JMU that provides free, non-judgmental, and anonymous rides to students every Friday and Saturday night of the school year. SafeRides is one of the best ways to make sure that you get home after a night out, but in case you don't want to just take my word for it, here are a few other reasons:

1. Rides are always free.

Free. Free. Free. Always free. Yes, if you absolutely insist, donations can be accepted and 100% of them will be given to the organization, but never, ever, ever will a ride cost you, or any patron, a single cent. There is also no additional “hidden” fees for getting sick in a vehicle.

2. Rides are completely anonymous.

Some people are hesitant about calling SafeRides and facing the possibility of having their name on a school record after a night out. However, we never take down more than a patron’s first name, which is simply so we can call each ride something if we need to refer to it throughout the night. Yes, we do ask to see a JAC Card, but that’s only to assure you’re the person who called and that you are in fact a JMU student. No one will ever know you took a ride after you get out of our car.

3. It's completely nonjudgmental and we don’t discourage drinking.

We believe everyone should spend college as they please – just as all of us do. We mean it when we say we’re non-judgmental; as an organization, we have no stance on drinking in college. Therefore, there’s no fear that you will be judged for your state of being while in a SafeRide (unless we think your health is in danger). To top it off, everyone in SafeRides is sworn to keep all rides confidential, so even if you do make us laugh in a car, no one else will ever know you did that.

4. Everyone’s treated the same.

When someone calls, they are put on a list to get a ride. No exceptions. Although SafeRide members are welcome to take advantage of the available services, they are treated just as any other patron would be. Since our rides are completely anonymous, we don’t even know when another member calls since we are only getting their first name. But, either way, it doesn’t matter, we all have to wait.

5. You can call from anywhere.

We’re a safe and reliable ride home. It doesn’t matter to us what you were doing that night, we’ll still give you a ride home! For example, the first night I worked, I picked up two girls from ECL who didn’t want to walk back to their home alone…and who can blame them after studying until 1 A.M. on a Friday

6. It's a guaranteed ride home.

We promise that if we take your call, we will come to get you – regardless of the time of the night. Waits can get lengthy at times, unfortunately we can usually only afford to run 6 cars to pick up hundreds of people in a night. However, as long as you call between the hours of 10:00 P.M. and 3:00 A.M., we will get you – just bear with us and plan ahead if possible.

Call 540-568-7433 this weekend! And check out JMUSafeRides on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to find out what's happening over the course of SafeRides week as well as any important announcements in the future!