Operation Red Nose: A Reminder

Road Rules has a reminder for the holiday “To Do” list of people who may end up unfit to drive: Write down the Operation Red Nose (ORN) telephone numbers for your area, —the toll free number for ORN services available in BC is 1-877-604-6673 and the area specific local number (listed below)—put them in a safe place from which they are easily retrievable, —your wallet and/or your cell phone.

If your family members are also driving their own cars to various seasonal social activities, record this contact information for them. At the same time, also consider offering your services as a volunteer on the nights with gaps in your own social calendar.

ORN is a volunteer driving service provided during the holiday season to drivers who are unfit to drive their own vehicle back home. Unfitness can be from any cause whatsoever. Sponsored by the Autoplan Brokers Road Safety Program, ICBC, CTV and a growing list of other organizations, ORN service, initiated by a client’s call, is provided by three person teams. Two people—the Volunteer Driver and the Volunteer Navigator—ride with the client in the client’s vehicle; the third person—the Escort Driver—follows behind in another vehicle.

The Volunteer Driver drives the client's vehicle. The Navigator rides with the Volunteer Driver and the client in the client's vehicle. The Navigator usually sits in the back with the client to ensure that everything is going according to the client's expectations, to obtain the information needed for a receipt and to ensure the client receives an Operation Red Nose donation envelope.

Escort Drivers, in their own vehicle, deliver the volunteer Driver and the Navigator to the client then follow the client's vehicle to the client’s intended destination. The team then returns to the ORN headquarters or is dispatched to pick up a new client in the Escort Driver’s vehicle.

ORN is not a taxi service. The only requirement for ORN service is that the client owns or operates a vehicle at the time of the call. A client, moving from place to place, may call more than once during the course of an evening. Other passengers may ride in the client's vehicle (provided there are enough seat belts) and will be dropped off before the client.

This service is confidential. Volunteers agree in writing not to give any details that could help identify a client. Why this protection is necessary may not be entirely clear, but we can certainly proceed on the basis that it is always best not to gossip.

ORN service from 9 pm to 3 am on November 30, December 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 31 is offered as follows: