Nearly 900 Use Local SoberRide® Program on Cinco de Mayo
DC AREA’S DUI PREVENTION EFFORT REMOVED POTENTIAL DRUNK DRIVER FROM AREA ROADWAYS EVERY 49-SECONDS
Tysons, VA, May 11 – Nearly 900 (881) persons in the Washington-metropolitan area used the free safe ride service, SoberRide® on Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) as opposed to possibly driving home drunk.
“For its hours of operation this Cinco de Mayo, this level of ridership translates into SoberRide removing a potential drunk driver from Greater Washington’s roadways every 49-seconds,” said Kurt Erickson, President of the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), the organization conducting the region’s SoberRide® effort.
WRAP’s 2026 Cinco de Mayo SoberRide® campaign began at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday May 5th and continued until 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 6th as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this high-risk period. During this twelve-hour period, area residents celebrating with alcohol could download the Lyft app to their phones and then enter the code “SAFECINCODC2026” in the app’s ‘Promo’ section to receive their no-cost (up to $15) safe ride home. SoberRide® was available to new and existing Lyft users.
Lyft provided SoberRide® trips throughout the Washington-metropolitan area to residents ages 21 and older who otherwise may have attempted to drive home after drinking.
The most recent Cinco de Mayo ridership of 881 users was the second highest ever for that particular holiday since such was first offered in 2015. WRAP also offers its SoberRide® program on Super Bowl, St. Patrick’s Day, Independence Day, Halloween and the winter holidays through and including New Year’s Eve.
SoberRide® is offered throughout Lyft’s Washington D.C. coverage area which includes all or parts of: the District 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 2026 Cinco de Mayo SoberRide® campaign included 395 Express Lanes, Anheuser-Busch, Beer Institute, Brown-Forman, Chesapeake Region Safety Council, Constellation Brands, Diageo, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Giant Food, Lyft, Molson Coors Beverage Company, New Belgium Brewing, Responsibility.org, Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington and the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association. WRAP’s 2026 Public Partner SoberRide® Sponsors include the District of Columbia Highway Safety Office, Maryland Highway Safety Office/Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
Since 1991, WRAP’s SoberRide® program has provided 103,987 free safe rides home to would-be drunk drivers in the Greater Washington area.
Founded in 1982, the nonprofit [501(c)(3)] Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) is an award-winning public-private partnership working to prevent drunk driving and underage drinking in the Washington-metropolitan area. Through public education, innovative health education programs and advocacy, WRAP is credited with helping to keep the annual percentage of metro-Washington traffic deaths involving alcohol-impaired driving historically lower than the national average. WRAP, however, may best be known to area residents via the organization’s popular free safe ride service to prevent drunk driving, SoberRide®.
More information about WRAP’s SoberRide® initiative can be found at www.soberride.com.