RIDING ON SAFETY VIGIL TO PROMOTE SOBER DRIVING.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Laura Strickland and Joe Crawford, their images frozen in time as prom dates, would be 33 now. So would Steven Hughes.

This trio from Canyon High's class of '85 never made it to high school reunions, never went to college, planned weddings or had families.

All three died in three separate crashes while driving drunk - Strickland in 1985, best friends Crawford and Hughes a few months apart the following year. The tragedies were compounded as three more Santa Clarita Valley teens died that year, drunk drivers or their victims.

Out of their deaths, Safe Rides was born. The student-run program offers confidential rides homes to teens who are drunk or who are relying on a friend who has been drinking. It was started by two moms with children who knew the three dead teens.

``I still tell that story when I talk to the kids,'' said Safe Rides coordinator Penny Upton, swept into action that May night when sirens screeched past her on the road.

She was with her son, and they both got chills. There was a party up the canyon, her son said.

``That was the night Laura died,'' Upton said.

Tonight, Safe Rides will hold its annual candlelight walk to promote sober driving and celebrate the 14th anniversary of the program.

The event is timed to deliver its don't-drink-and-drive message before the holiday parties begin.

Participants will meet at 6 p.m. at Creekside Road and Valencia Boulevard. The community is invited to light candles and walk with Safe Rides members and other supporters.

Hundreds of teen volunteers from the four local high schools will walk along Valencia Boulevard to the Santa Clarita Civic Center. Candles will be provided.

Two hundred teens showed up for last year's walk, and Upton said she's hoping for a similar turnout. It makes a statement, she said, when kids hear the pleas to take care behind the wheel.

``It takes a little hammering these days,'' she said. ``Kids are so inundated with the faster pace. There's not always a lot of thinking time.''

For Upton, sober driving became a crusade.

``After the kids died, there were meetings and headlines, and MADD came up and talked to us,'' she said. ``When all the smoke cleared I couldn't walk away from it. You know how you always say somebody out there should do something? Well, I'm somebody.''

So Upton and Betty Burke teamed and began a tradition of promoting safe driving. They urged kids not to drink but made sure to be there if they did.

Today Safe Rides drives about 10 kids home every Friday and Saturday night. The organization is a nonprofit community service program that provides free rides on Friday and Saturday nights and on New Year's Eve from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Safe Rides can be reached at [phone].