{"id":1663,"date":"2016-11-19T17:32:31","date_gmt":"2016-11-19T22:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/?p=1663"},"modified":"2021-04-27T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T00:00:00","slug":"doris-aiken-featured-in-daily-gazette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/2016\/11\/19\/doris-aiken-featured-in-daily-gazette\/","title":{"rendered":"Doris Aiken featured in Daily Gazette"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Aiken still passionate about the cause she started<\/h1>\n
By Karen Bjornland<\/a><\/span> November 18, 2016 <\/span><\/div>\n
\"Doris <\/a><\/p>\n
\n
Photographer: Peter R. Barber<\/a><\/div>\n
Doris Aiken smiles in the living room of her Nott Street home in Schenectady.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Doris Aiken was 51 years old when she started Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID), an organization that began in her home in Schenectady and took root across America.<\/div>\n
That was back in the 1970s, when in most cases, it was not a crime to drive drunk and kill a human being.<\/div>\n
Aiken became a leader in an anti-drunken driving movement that changed American society.<\/div>\n
\u201cI was just following my heart in drawing attention to a system that was routinely failing the victims of drunken drivers,\u201d she says in the latest issue of the RID newsletter.<\/div>\n
\"Doris<\/p>\n
\n
Doris Aiken with Sen. Alfonse D’Amato in 1984. Aiken, a lifelong Democrat, worked with D’Amato, a Republican, to help pass the law that raised New York State’s drinking age from
\n18 to 21. (photo provided)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Aiken, who is now a 90-year-old grandmother, is still president of the organization, its advisor and a voting member of the RID board. This fall, she passed the day-to-day duties to her<\/div>\n
son William Aiken. Her daughter Jane Wyatt Aiken is the newsletter editor and manages the accounting and mailing list. Doris\u2019 husband, William S. Aiken Sr., who was vice president<\/div>\n
and general manager of RID, died in 2004.<\/div>\n
Doris launched her campaign on Dec. 5, 1977 after she saw a story in The Daily Gazette about a horrible accident in Glenville.<\/div>\n
Karen and Timothy Morris, ages 17 and 19, were hit by a driver who was drunk at the wheel with an open can of beer between his knees. Timothy was killed instantly. Karen died 48<\/div>\n
hours later at Ellis Hospital.<\/div>\n
When Doris contacted the district attorney\u2019s office, she found out that the driver would not go to jail or lose his license. It was only an accident, she was told.<\/div>\n
With the help of her church, Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady, in 1978, Doris put together a group that became RID, America\u2019s first anti-drunken driving organization.<\/div>\n
By 1983, RID had 130 chapters in 30 states.<\/div>\n
Today, the non-profit RID USA Inc. has 35 chapters in 25 states that operate autonomously.<\/div>\n
RID has never taken money from the alcohol industry and is funded entirely through its book and video sales, charitable donations and grants.<\/div>\n
When it comes to the cause, Doris remains as passionate as ever.<\/div>\n
Earlier this month, The Gazette visited Doris and her son in their home near Ellis Hospital, which for 38 years has also been the headquarters for RID.<\/div>\n

Faith in people<\/h3>\n
A gracious woman with pale ginger hair, Doris was eager to talk about RID and the volunteers that keep it going.<\/div>\n
\u201cI feel very grateful to have the opportunity to make a difference. And I\u2019m proud about the people I got to know. All different kinds of people,\u201d she says.<\/div>\n
Looking forward, Doris says she has faith that younger generations will keep the fight going and change attitudes even more.<\/div>\n
\u201cI feel very confident that we\u2019re going to get rid of the drunk driving menace in this country as well as other countries,\u201d she says.<\/div>\n
Young people and drunk driving is one of her special interests.<\/div>\n
\u201cWe have a high level of young people being killed. It\u2019s difficult for young people to grasp that,\u201d she says.<\/div>\n
\u201cThey have an obligation, no matter how terrific the next beer party is, to just say \u2018no.\u2019 \u201d<\/div>\n
Young people can be the \u201cleaders in the new growing field of people who do not drink and drive,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd when that happens, we\u2019re going to see<\/div>\n
fewer mangled cars and fewer broken hearts. These accidents with young people need never happen.\u201d<\/div>\n
And parents must be the role models, she says.<\/div>\n
\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t let our children get the idea that it\u2019s really cool to go to a drinking party.\u201d<\/div>\n
When you host a party, look out for people who are drinking too much and make sure their spouse, partner or friend knows that that person won\u2019t be able<\/div>\n
to drive home, she advises.<\/div>\n
\u201cYou have an obligation to report anyone who is inebriated on the road or if they are going to leave your house from a party.\u201d<\/div>\n
Another party tip is to pick a family member who can drive someone home if needed.<\/div>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what a host has to do. You have to love your guests and take care of them if you are going to serve drinks.\u201d<\/div>\n
For more information about RID, go to www.rid-usa.org<\/a> or phone 888-283-5144.<\/div>\n
Reach Gazette reporter Karen Bjornland at 395-3197, kbjornland@dailygazette.net<\/a> or on Twitter @bjorngazette.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aiken still passionate about the cause she started By Karen Bjornland November 18, 2016 Photographer: Peter R. Barber Doris Aiken smiles in the living room of her Nott Street home in Schenectady.   Doris Aiken was 51 years old when … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rid-general-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1663"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2121,"href":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663\/revisions\/2121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rid-usa.org\/rid-usa-inc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}