Nearly 1,000 Use Local SoberRide® Program on Halloween

DC AREA’S 31-YEAR-OLD DUI PREVENTION EFFORT POSTS SECOND HIGHEST RIDERSHIP LEVEL EVER FOR HALLOWEEN LAST WEEKEND

Washington, D.C., November 4 – Nearly 1,000 (943) persons in the Washington-metropolitan area used the free safe ride service, SoberRide®, this Halloween (October 29 – 30, 2022) as opposed to possibly driving home drunk.

“For its hours of operation this Halloween weekend, this level of ridership translates into SoberRide removing more than one potential drunk driver from Greater Washington’s roadways every 45-seconds last weekend,” said Kurt Erickson, President of the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), the organization conducting the region’s SoberRide® effort.

WRAP’s Halloween SoberRide® campaign began at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 29, 2022 and continued until 4:00 a.m., the next day, Sunday, October 30th as a way to keep local roads safe from potentially impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk period. During this twelve-hour period, area residents celebrating with alcohol could download the Lyft app to their phones, then enter the code “SAFEHALLOWEEN22” in the app’s “Payment” tab (under the Add Lyft Pass” option) to receive their no-cost (up to $15) safe transportation home. SoberRide® was available to both new and existing Lyft users.

Lyft provided SoberRide® trips throughout the Washington-metropolitan area to local residents ages 21 and older who otherwise may have attempted to drive home after drinking.

The most recent Halloween ridership of 943 users was the second highest for that holiday since SoberRide® began in 1991. WRAP also offers free safe ride services on St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Independence Day and the winter holiday through and including New Year’s Eve.

SoberRide® was offered throughout Lyft’s Washington D.C. coverage area which includes all or parts of: the District of Columbia; the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George’s and towns therein plus the cities of Bowie, College Park, District Heights, Gaithersburg, Glenarden, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Laurel, Mount Ranier, New Carrollton, Rockville, Seat Pleasant and Takoma Park; and the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William and towns therein plus the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park

Sponsors of WRAP’s 2022 Halloween SoberRide® campaign included the 395 Express Lanes, Amazon, Anheuser-Busch, Beer Institute, Brown-Forman, Constellation Brands, District of Columbia Association of Beverage Alcohol Wholesalers, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Foundation of Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, Giant Food, Glory Days Grill, Kendall-Jackson, Lyft, Molson Coors Beverage Company, New Belgium Brewing, Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, and the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association. WRAP’s 2022 Partner SoberRide® Sponsors included the District of Columbia Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Office, Maryland Highway Safety Office/Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration and Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

Since 1991, WRAP’s SoberRide® program has provided 83,678 free safe rides home to would-be drunk drivers in the Greater Washington area.

Commemorating its 40th year in 2022 after being founded in 1982, the nonprofit [501(c)(3)] Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) is a coalition of diverse interests using effective education, innovative programs and targeted advocacy to end alcohol-impaired driving and underage drinking in the Washington, DC metro area. Through public education, innovative health education programs and advocacy, WRAP is credited with keeping the metro-Washington area’s alcohol-related traffic deaths historically lower than the national average.

For more information, visit WRAP’s web site at www.wrap.org.