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New Years Eve
December 31 st , 2004 1:30 pm (PST)
KNX Radio Transcript
The Business Hour With Paul Young
KNX :
"This will be a night of parties and celebration on this New Years Eve.
Some of us might find it hard to walk, let alone get behind the wheel of a car by midnight, you may know that the MTA here in Los Angeles is offering free trips for people in need of a ride.
But, a new company's providing a unique service for drivers who may have had too much to drink and don't want to risk it, it's called Scooterpatrol, a Sunset Beach not for profit that can get both you and your vehicle back home when you're unable to do that yourself. We're joined now by Scooterpatrol general manager, Anthony Panzica, thanks very much and happy New Year to ya' sir."
Anthony Panzica :
"Happy New Year, thanks for the opportunity."
KNX :
"Tell us how your service works."
Anthony Panzica:
"Well, you go have a few drinks at one of the drinking establishments we serve, you call our dispatch, we send a driver over on a Goped scooter, he puts the scooter in a bag, puts all of that in a trunk and he drives you home and then gets on the scooter and comes back. And, it's a free service for the benefit of the community."
KNX :
"What if you have a Mazda Miata?"
Anthony Panzica :
"Well, we haven't had a situation where the scooter did not fit in any of the cars yet.
Our scooters are only 32 pounds, they're manufactured by the inventors of the scooters, Goped Patmont Motorwerks and they're good vehicles.
They fit in every car."
KNX :
"How much does this service cost?"
Anthony Panzica :
"It's free sir.
It's a free service for the benefit of the community."
KNX :
"Alright, let's get that contact number out and how can they reach you?"
Anthony Panzica :
"Well, we have a website, www.scooterpatrol.org and our contact numbers are
562-577-7365 and 714-240-3534."
KNX :
"Alright, we'll let people get a pen or a pencil and a piece of paper and we'll repeat those in just a moment. Anything else people should know about this?"
Anthony Panzica :
"We've been operating for 20 months now and we've transported over 2,500 people home safely. We do have plans to expand this service on a nationwide level and I think it's applicable in many communities across the United States ."
KNX:
"If a friend sees that their friend has had too much to drink is this purely on a voluntary basis? What if the friend is not cooperative and get in to a situation like that?"
Anthony Panzica:
"Well, we're trying to help these people, if they don't want help we're not going to spend too much time with 'em.
We do this for free and we're out here doing this 7 days a week.
So, if they're not cooperating we will move on to the next call."
KNX:
"And why are you doing this?
Obviously you feel very strongly about this, how did you get involved in all this?"
Anthony Panzica:
"Well, the reason we do this is because someone dies at the hands of an impaired motorist every 30 minutes in this country and I believe it's a huge issue.
And, I believe that Scooterpatrol is, can be key to this problem.
The problem is that people do not have a way of getting their cars home with them after they have started drinking. We step in and get their cars home with them,
thus, taking the temptation to break the law right out of it."
KNX:
"Alright, give us the numbers again and the website address please."
Anthony Panzica:
"Our website is www.scooterpatrol.org and our contact numbers are 562-577-7365 and 714-240-3534 and I would like to say one more thing if you don't mind.
Due to the tremendous response we got last New Years, tonight will be reservations only. If there are cancellations, you can go ahead and call and we will try to fit you in but, it's going to be a very busy night so it's reservations only."
KNX:
"Mr. Panzica, thank you very much and happy New Year to you."
Anthony Panzica:
"Thank you for the opportunity and happy New Year to everyone at KNX and CBS."
KNX:
"Thank you very much.
Scooterpatrol general manager Anthony Panzica live with us here on
KNX Business Hour."
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