Request for Donations

Drive and Stay Alive, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. (In many countries this would simply be referred to as a ‘registered charity’.)

The creation of DSA and the many thousands of man-hours necessary for the creation and maintenance of this Website have been entirely self-funded but if we are to develop our various programs and thereby help save lives not only in North America but also around the world, we urgently need significant financial assistance.

At present, we are appealing for donations and sponsorship to help us in five key areas, as follows:

  • International Road Safety News — This has proved to be a unique global service and is responsible for the majority of our current half-million-plus site hits per month. There is no doubt that it helps people around the world — drivers, legislators, police officers, the judiciary, road safety practitioners, the parents of new, young drivers, etc. — to keep up to date with latest best practice techniques and ideas. We believe that IRSN is a vital part of what we do and it is, of course, also the bedrock on which we have built our own programs
  • A  U.S. Educational Program — to provide suitable up-to-date, “best practice” advice for young drivers in America, in the form of printed pamphlets, etc., that will be available on request
  • Western New York Senior Schools Program — This service is actually available anywhere in North America but as we are currently based in Western New York this area will clearly get most of our attention. In the Niagara Frontier Region of WNY, alone, there are over 140 senior schools and we hope to visit each of them at least three times each academic year — a major task but one which we know can make a significant difference to the young adults in the region
  • Conference Funding — to allow our key staff to attend suitable safety-related events and conferences, in order to both give and receive access to the latest “best practice” knowledge. This is a truly vital necessity for our work to remain up to date and is undeniably essential in helping us with our work to save lives
  • General Fund — to help us run an office and administrative base for all of our vital work. We also ask that if you do not have any specific preferences as to how your donation is used, you should select General Fund as we may use it, if/when necessary, to maintain any of the other programs that urgently need financial support

Contact us either by e-mail, via:    editor[the ‘at’ sign]driveandstayalive.com

or by phone on ++  1-716-631-7294


International Road Safety News

Few people realize the enormity of the road casualty situation, on a worldwide basis.

1.2 million people are killed in road crashes every year [Source: World Health Organization]. That is 3,000 people, on average, killed every single day. And it is believed that around 100,000 other people are injured every day.

During 2004 — the first full year for the Drive and Stay Alive ‘International Road Safety News’ service — we posted over 2,000 road safety news items from 116 different countries, and thereby helped to spread the latest techniques and ideas, not only to poorer countries where protecting lives on roads is inconceivably difficult, but also among richer, developed nations, where there is a tendency to be too introspective on such issues. [See our ‘Comments’ page for multi-national reactions to our work.]

During 2004, this particular aspect of our work resulted in Drive and Stay Alive being made the only North American signatory, so far, to the European Road Safety Charter, in respect of our global work not because of any particular European focus. It was also instrumental in us receiving the Best International Traffic Safety Website Award from the Canadian Association of Road safety Professionals (CARSP).

We were genuinely delighted to receive both of these important recognitions but it has to be said that recognitions don’t pay the bills!

In order to maintain and eventually extend this important aspect of our work, we need to fund the current work — which has so far been done entirely at our own expense, although that unfortunately is unsustainable — and thereafter employ initially one more person so that we may develop what is unarguably a unique and important role in helping to save lives around the world.


U.S. Educational Program

PLEASE HELP US SAVE YOUNG AMERICAN LIVES — PLEASE DO IT TODAY!

Over 6,000 teenagers, and a further 4,000 young adults, from 20 through 24, are killed every year on America’s roads. And the majority of those 10,000 annual, young deaths are avoidable!

You may have read elsewhere on our website that highway safety standards in the USA are actually very poor. That’s not our fact, it comes from the databases of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) of which America is a member. The USA lies in a sickeningly low 28th place, out of the 30 countries listed, and a has a per capita road-crash death rate almost 2½ times worse than the safest countries. And there is simply no excuse for this. America deservedly leads the world in many, many fields, but highway safety, sadly, is not one of them.

It is our mission, at Drive and Stay Alive, to gather together knowledge of “best practice” in highway safety from all around the world and disperse this as widely as possible, for practical use — both regionally and nationally — to help reduce the carnage, here in the USA.

As part of that role, we intend to produce pertinent, interesting literature for teenagers and young adults.

Clearly this will be an expensive task but one which we intend to develop gradually, as funding permits.

Our request to you, therefore, is for funds that may be used for the production and distribution of various pamphlets, which will be carefully designed to maximize their attraction and interest to young people in the key age groups.


Western New York

Senior Schools Program

Even though obtaining funding for this task has been devastatingly difficult, we believe the schools program to be a vital component of our work, and frankly we are not prepared to give up on the kids concerned. Funding is desperately needed.

Each year over 6,000 teenagers, and a further 4,000 young adults, from 20 through 24, are killed on America’s roads. And the majority of those 10,000 annual, young deaths are avoidable!

In the Niagara Frontier Region of WNY, alone, there are over 140 senior schools and we hope to visit each of them at least three times each academic year — a major task but one which we know will make a significant difference to the young adults in the region. We intend also to give free talks in as many colleges, universities, youth groups, etc., as possible, but our program does need significant funding in order to achieve this.

Our annual budget for this part of our work is $120,000.

If you would like to see greater knowledge brought to bear on reducing the unacceptable and tragic loss of more than 10,000 young people each year, we need your help…. We need your financial help, and we need it NOW!

View a page specifically about our Western New York Schools Program

If you would like to see the credentials of our executive director, in connection with practical aspects of highway safety, click here.

PLEASE HELP US SAVE YOUNG AMERICAN LIVES — PLEASE DO IT TODAY!


Conference Funding

The importance of regional, national or international safety conferences cannot be overstated. The exchange of latest, best practice information is unequalled, both in the lectures and in the general networking moments.

Whether one of us (Eddie Wren) is asked to attend as a speaker, or one of us attends just to listen, the two-way exchange is invaluable.

But even though the cost of hosting such conferences is often sponsored, the cost of travel and accommodation rarely is, even for speakers (although costs for the latter may be subsidized).

Please do not underestimate the importance of such events to Drive and Stay Alive. Your help with this aspect of our work will be hugely appreciated and is of immense importance to our lifesaving work.


General Fund

If you are undecided about which of our programs to help, or you recognize the importance of us maintaining a frugal but efficient administrative base, please do consider making a donation to our general fund.

This fund also has added importance in that we will use it as an emergency reserve in case any of our other, more specific programs urgently needs cash.

In many ways, we would urge you to put this fund first, as that allows us maximum flexibility in fighting the carnage that needlessly wipes out so many of our young people, whether in our own country or around the world.


Whichever category you select, please give generously.

Your kindness truly can help save young lives.

 Choose Method Of Donating