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Pamela V. Brown Write Path, an L.L.C. |
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Kauai Business Report December 2004 |
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Giving a Lift to the Community: Towing Operator Gives Free Rides during Holiday Season
By Pamela V. Brown
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KAPAA - While most people celebrate New Year's Eve at parties, Roger
Ridgley, Jr. often spends the evening at home with his wife Carol,
waiting for phone calls from people who are too drunk to drive
themselves home safely.
As the owner of A Tow in Paradise, a flatbed towing firm that's been in operation on Kauai for 15 years, Ridgley offers free towing service to people during the holiday season if they know they've had too much to drink but want to get both themselves and their vehicle home in one piece. "Most people drive home drunk because they don't want to leave the car. That's why we take them and the car home free," he said. "It's my kokua back to the island." The free-tow program - called T.O.W.E.D. - Towing Operators Working to Eliminate Drunk Driving - is something Ridgley, 53, learned about during one of the many towing seminars he's attended on the mainland, where many towing companies offer similar services. "I'm the only one who does this on the island," Ridgley said. "The roads are so small and people do drink a lot over here and there are a lot of accidents," he said. There are a few rules to receive a free ride. First and foremost, the vehicle must be operable - no junk cars that "stay broke" in the front yard are eligible for Ridgley's generosity. The time frame is from December 26 through January 1. And the free tow can only be to your home - not to another party or bar. Ridgley says that no one has to know that you were drunk. "You can say that your car broke down. People won't know," he said. Even though Ridgley has offered this program for a number of years on Kauai, he said it's been a challenge getting the word out that it's available. "The radio stations are funny because they feel it's an ad" for his business even though it's a completely free service, he said, though he noted that Ron Wiley on KONG has been very supportive. He's gotten his share of calls for the T.O.W.E.D. program over the years, most of which have come in on New Year's Eve. The most he had was seven calls one year though sometimes he'll wait all night and receive just one call. Each year there's a new batch of stories and amusing circumstances. "You meet a lot of people that you normally don't see in that kind of condition," he said. Take, for example, the Princeville man who was in a bar and who thought his car was in the parking lot but when Ridgley arrived, the vehicle couldn't be located. Feeling in the holiday spirit, Ridgley drove the man home anyway only to discover the man's wife had driven the vehicle home earlier. "There it is!" the man exclaimed when he saw it in his driveway. Then there was the "happy drunk" in Hanamaulu who needed to get home to Lawai. "His friend said 'I read about this service. I can't believe this is really real,' - like he'd met Santa Claus," Ridgley said. Ridgley's wife Carol usually rides along with Roger, joking that it's quality time with her husband. "We usually spend New Year's Eve on the highway or waiting for a call." Ridgley has received lots of calls over the years since moving to Kauai and starting A Tow in Paradise, the first flatbed towing firm on the island. He operated a used parts salvage yard in Philadelphia before moving here and worked for awhile as a laborer at the Hyatt hotel. "I realized I couldn't work for anybody (but myself)," he said. About the same time, "I noticed there were no flatbed tow trucks on the island." Thus his signature specialty was born. These days Ridgley is easily recognizable riding in one of his large trucks on Kauai roads, his shoulder-length hair blowing in the tradewinds, his cell phone constantly in use. Vehicles receive considerably less damage when being towed on a flatbed truck, Ridgley said, noting that four-wheel drive vehicles, sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and electric cars can only safely be towed on a flatbed truck. "Manufacturers suggest you can tow them conventionally but you have a distance limitation of 35 miles during the total life of the car, traveling at only 35 miles per hour," he said. "Flatbed towing is the safest way to tow a vehicle." Long known as an island specialist for rescuing vehicles from impossible post-accident resting places, Ridgley's newest big truck does even more than that. It has a crane installed in the back of the cab so he can easily pull vehicles from ditches without causing additional damage. "I can recover a vehicle that went off the side of the road without closing off both lanes of traffic," he said - a big deal on an island with only one lane flowing in each direction. "The crane lifts it up and puts it on the bed at once." When saving cars and trucks gets to feeling a little mundane and run-of-the-mill, Ridgley can also lift refrigerators and hot tubs up to the second floor of homes. "Sometimes the Jacuzzi came after the railing was installed," he explained. "A lot of these people are skeptical at first until they actually see it work and see it happen." If someone had told him a few years ago that he'd be elevating large household appliances with one of his monster trucks, "I'd have thought they were crazy." Most of the time he's helping people get their vehicles out of odd predicaments - and hearing all kinds of stories, about most of which he's a bit doubtful. "Come on now, be real. You were drunk when you wrecked your car," he thinks to himself. "But everybody has a story. Out of the stories that get told, maybe 30% are true. "They all say they weren't drinking or speeding. 'A dog jumped out in front of me.' But you can tell," he said. "These kids today, they have no fear. They just fly down the highway." Ridgley's favorite part of his business is meeting different people and helping them when they're in need. That's why it's a natural that he offers his free towing service during the holiday season. "If they're smart enough to call me or if their friends call me, that means that somebody cares."
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Contact Information: Pamela V. Brown (808) 651-3533 cell (808) 821-1027 fax |
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"Individuality of expression is the beginning and end of all art." --- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Proverbs in Prose |
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© Copyright 2004 Write Path, an L.L.C. and Pamela V. Brown All material, pictures, concepts, intellectual property and rights reserved. |
© Copyright 2004 Magical Concepts §©ª¨ |
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