Road safety with Nez Rouge Zurich and Mobility

Half a million journeys

The Nez Rouge association was founded in 1990 to improve road safety over the Christmas/New Year period. Founder Jean-Luc Baierlé, then a doctor in Canton Jura, took the idea from Quebec, where a similar driving service was launched in 1984. Following a successful premiere in the Jura, new regional sections serving other regions came into being over the ensuing years; Nez Rouge started making inroads into German-speaking Switzerland in 1994. The fact that the club did not translate its name into German did not hurt its success: Nez Rouge now enjoys a recognition level of 93%. We bet you a mulled wine – three if you’re going out without your car! – that you’ve heard of Red Nose, too.

Switzerland now boasts 23 regional sections, all autonomous in terms of communication and organisation. Their communication activities include accident prevention in the form of marketing campaigns highlighting the consequences of drink-driving. On the other hand, Nez Rouge promotes the designated driver principle: Before the first toast, a group member is selected to take the others home safely. This is also known as the “Who’s doing the Nez Rouge [Red Nose] today?” question.”

That said, as we’ve already outlined, not every evening goes as planned. That’s when Nez Rouge’s driving service comes into play; it’s offered every December – especially around Christmas and New Year. All it takes is one phone call for a Nez Rouge team to pick the driver up and drive him or her home in their car. More than 35,000 people made use of this service in 2019 alone. Altogether, Nez Rouge has carried out almost half a million call-outs since 1990.

The Nez Rouge service is also available throughout the rest of the year: its availability for corporate, wedding and other festive occasions helps to make the streets safer. Visit the relevant websites for details.

https://www.nezrouge.ch/de/Medien/Marktstudie.html

The obvious solution

As a car sharing company, road safety is something that’s close to our hearts, too. We thought about how we could support Nez Rouge – and decided on the obvious solution: We provide Nez Rouge with 780 vehicles in the canton of Zurich that drivers can use as they wish. If they’re not Mobility members, they’re provided with a free trial subscription.

If you, as a Mobility member, have concerns about not finding a vehicle over Christmas/New Year, don’t worry: Nez Rouge starts operating at 10 pm, so there should be no shortages. And you needn’t fear having to contend with unpleasant smells or stains due to mishaps, since Nez Rouge customers travel in their own cars.

Support Nez Rouge: with a donation or as a driver

The Nez Rouge service has been free of charge since the first pick-up somewhere in the (presumably snowy) Jura back in 1990. This is possible because the drivers and everyone else who works for Nez Rouge are unpaid volunteers. The remaining costs are financed through donations that come, amongst others, from the people using the service. Some are particularly generous and donate three-figure amounts – for example, if they’ve encountered a police checkpoint and avoided having their driving licence confiscated by calling Nez Rouge – while others are creative: the organisation has, in the past, received 40 kilograms of potatoes, twelve bottles of wine, four sausages – even a wedding ring that was surplus to requirements after a divorce! This year, Nez Rouge Zurich is donating what it receives to the street magazine Surprise.

If you would like to support Nez Rouge Zurich financially, you can do so at www.nezrougezuerich.ch/spenden do. And if you want to get behind the wheel or get involved in any other way, all sections of Nez Rouge welcome volunteers.

We at Mobility are delighted to be able to support Nez Rouge in Zurich this year for the first time. We wish the volunteer drivers – and of course everyone else on the roads this festive period – safe motoring!