The Responsible Young Drivers (RYD) took some 330 partygoers home on New Year’s Eve, the organisation said on Sunday.
Volunteers were in most demand in Flanders. 40 volunteers were mobilised there between midnight and 6am. They enabled 250 people to be taken home safely in 90 vehicles.
In Wallonia and Brussels, 30 volunteers were also on alert. They took 85 celebrators home in 27 cars.
The operation went off without incident, said Laura Gonzalez Schena, coordinator of Responsible Young Drivers in Wallonia-Brussels.
“Even before Covid, we were seeing a drop in the number of volunteers and people brought back,” she explained. RYD is going to analyse the reasons for such a drop.
The association received almost no calls from Brussels last night and, according to Gonzalez Schena, this could also be explained by the availability of alternative services (Uber, Stib night service, etc.).
“We also hope that people themselves make arrangements in advance and are more responsible,” she added.
The RYDs travel in pairs. Once they arrive at a requested location, one of them takes the seat at the wheel of the partygoers’ car, and the other follows in a separate vehicle to pick up their colleague.
