As we approach the holiday season, many of you will be out and about, dining with friends, partying in town, or having a drink after work with colleagues.
If you’re planning to have a drink, be sure to plan ahead and make arrangements for your return home — if you’re driving, then you need to remain below the legal limit (Swiss limits and French limits) and if you’re not, then you need to make sure you have a sensible means of transport back home.
If you can’t rely on friends to give you a lift home, and if public transport is not an option, think about putting some extra money in your wallet for a Swiss taxi or French taxi home. At this time of year, fees can be extremely high, so be prepared.
When your plans change, and you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, having set out in your car but having drunk more than the legal limit, DO NOT be tempted to get into your car and drive home. Instead, call up Nez Rouge, a volunteer organization set up in 1990, which will arrange for a driver to come out and meet you, and drive your car home! In French, Nez Rouge translates as Red Nose... a double meaning for a drunken person's red tinted nose and the Christmas story of Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer.
When you call up their free number, 0800 802 208, Nez Rouge will send two volunteers to drive your car home (one driving and one assisting at the back of the car), both of whom will be followed by another driver in a Nez Rouge car who will return all volunteers back to base.
Set up in 1990 with the goal of making drivers aware of the dangers of driving in an unfit state, the service is entirely free, and relies on the support of organizations such as Planzer Transport SA, Swisscom (Suisse) SA, Zürich Assurances, Fonds de sécurité routière, and La Loterie Romande. Since 1990 there have been 178,000 volunteers who brought back home 510,000 people over the festive period in the last 33 years of operation. Last season they had 6,500 volunteers for 14,000 calls to Nez Rouge!
Check website for direct numbers for your area as well as schedules and times as they vary from area to area. Make sure to save these numbers in your cell phone for easy access when needed.
Here are the general dates for the Geneva and neighboring France (Gex, Bellegarde, Cruseilles, Sciez) as well as the region up to Lausanne but there are variations depending on where you live. Check the main website (www.nezrouge.ch main number 22h-05h 0800 802 208) for the eastern and northern parts of Vaud or further afield.
GENEVA CANTON
Area also covered in France: Gex, Bellegarde, Cruseilles, Sciez
www.nezrouge-geneve.ch
022 710 09 97
Friday 8 to Sunday 31 December 2023
- Sunday to Thursday: 10pm to 3am
- Friday, Saturday and New Year's Eve: 10pm to 5am
LAUSANNE CITY AREA
www.nezrouge-lausanne.ch
021 964 60 68
For the canton of Vaud
8-9 December 2023
15-16 December 2023
21-31 December 2023
- Sunday to Thursday 10:00 pm to 3:00 am
- Friday & Saturday 10:00 pm to 5:00 am
- december 25 from 16h00 to 03h00
- December 31st from 23h00 to 05h00
NORD VAUDOIS
www.nezrouge-les-bains.ch
EST VAUDOIS
www.nrev.ch
This is the current list of separate Nez Rouge pages on their site:
- Aargau
- Basel
- Bern City und Umgebung
- Berner Oberland
- Biel/Bienne
- Broye-Lac
- Est vaudois
- Fribourg
- Genève
- Graubünden
- Jura
- Jura bernois
- Lausanne
- Linth-Glarus
- Luzern
- Neuchâtel
- Nord vaudois
- Oberwallis
- Ostschweiz
- Solothurn
- Ticino
- Valais
- Zug-Innerschwyz
- Zürich
