Prince George, B.C- Operation Red Nose figures the poor weather conditions on the weekend played a role in the reduced demand for rides on its fourth weekend of operations.

On Friday, December 16^th, 19 teams were on the road to provide  103 rides home. That’s down from the 142 rides provided on the same night in 2010.

 

On Saturday,  20 teams out on the road provided 160 rides home, compared to 177 rides on the same night a year ago.

 

So far, the program has offered 742 rides this season, compared to 850 over the same period last year.

 

“I think we can attribute the decrease to a number of things such as weather, especially Friday night” says Andrea Johnson, Operation Red Nose Co- ordinator. “Operation Red Nose was ready for a busy night Friday, however due to poor weather and road conditions – slush and ice – I think many people decided to stay home and not risk driving to a party. We actually sent teams home because the volume was not there.”

 

As for the incident that happened Sunday morning at 3:15 a.m.  in which a client was punched, Johnson says it was a random and isolated incident. “The person who was arrested  by the RCMP was not even an Operation Red Nose client. He tried to get into our client’s car that was at the pick-up location that our Red Nose volunteer was about to drive home. He was prevented by our Red Nose volunteer and the client from entering the car and the client was allegedly punched but he wasn’t hurt and is OK.”

 

Johnson says both the client and Operation Red Nose dispatch called the RCMP for help and they immediately arrived on the scene.

 

Johnson says this is the first time anything like this has happened in the 14 years the program has been operating “We’ve never had a problem with any of our clients who are very happy to get a safe ride home. Our volunteers are not in danger either – it’s why they travel in teams of three for safety. The volunteer escort vehicle is equipped with a radio so we have constant communication with ORN dispatch/headquarters.”