The importance a company places on impaired driving prevention sends a strong lifesaving message to employees that they must be involved in keeping the roads safe. While a company is impacted by drunk driving and traffic crashes through lost work time, administrative costs, health insurance premium increases and other measurable, bottomline costs, employees suffer the staggering loss of loved ones who are gone forever or must live with life-altering injuries.

To assist area employers, WRAP’s Safe And Vital Employees (SAVE) program merges the workplace with traffic safety, an important partnership. While most employees and residents are concerned about drunk driving, many do not know the many other ways their lives can be impacted. Therefore, WRAP works to raise the employee’s knowledge about area drunk driving laws, statistics, tips for safe celebrating and other important information. WRAP also uses the real-life experiences of victims and police officers who share their perspectives during employee presentations in order to help individuals make positive, behavior-changing decisions.

To make presentations interesting and interactive, WRAP staff members use a larger than-life Monopoly-style game board and "Fatal Vision" goggles, a tool simulating the impairment of alcohol on one’s vision. WRAP also distributes thousands of pieces of literature and other information at employee health fairs so that traffic safety is kept a top priority among other health-related concerns. New this year, the SAVE program is lead by an advisory committee chaired by WRAP board member Ed McCarty (Enterprise Rent-A-Car).

"Our SAVE (Safe and Vital Employees) program fulfills the WRAP Mission Statement by raising awareness through information, education and training on alcohol related issues. We have reached members of the public through company sponsored brown bag lunches, informal meetings and employee health fairs. We hope to add many more companies and associations to our list in ‘00."

- Edward L. McCarty
Enterprise Rent-A-Car

During the Channel 4 health expo, SAVE Advisory Committee Member Sharon Eddy (State Farm Insurance), left, discusses traffic safety with one of over 60,000 of the event's attendees.

WRAP Board Member Leo Cabrales (Arlington County Police), left, is honored by Elias Barnes (Ft. Meyer) for his educational efforts during SAVE presentations on base.

Forging a new state-wide partnership, WRAP's Beth Fusakio, left, and Joy Marowski (Maryland Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, demonstrate a SAVE presentation.

WRAP Program Coordinator Rhonda Dinello, second from left, demonstrates "Fatal Vision" goggles at an employee health fair.