D.C. AREA’S ANTI-DUI EFFORT REMOVES POTENTIAL DRUNK DRIVER FROM AREA ROADWAYS EVERY 19-SECONDS OVER THE WEEKEND

Washington, D.C., October 30– A record-shattering 1,122 persons in the Washington-metropolitan area used the free safe ride service, SoberRide®, this Halloween (Saturday, October 26) as opposed to possibly driving home drunk.

“For its hours of operation this Halloween, this level of ridership translates into SoberRide removing a potential drunk driver from Greater Washington’s roadways every 19-seconds,” said Kurt Gregory Erickson, President of the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program, the organization conducting the region’s SoberRide® effort.

WRAP’s 2019 Halloween SoberRide® campaign began at 10:00 pm on Saturday, October 26, 2019 and continued until 4:00 am, the next day, Sunday, October 27, 2019, as a way to keep local roads safe from potentially impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk holiday. During this six-hour period, area residents celebrating with alcohol could download Lyft to their phones, then enter the code SAFEHALLOWEEN19 in the app’s “Promo” section to receive their no cost (up to $ 15) safe transportation home while supplies lasted. SoberRide was available to both new and existing Lyft users.

(In 2017, WRAP announced a partnership with the ridesharing service Lyft to provide WRAP’s SoberRide® service in the Washington-metropolitan area. SoberRide®, the popular free safe ride service to prevent drunk driving, is solely available via the Lyft mobile app ridesharing platform.)

The most recent Halloween ridership of 1,122 users was the highest for that holiday in SoberRide’s 29-year history. SoberRide’s prior record for Halloween SoberRide ridership had been 715 users in 2017. Since partnering with Lyft, WRAP reports a more than tripling of its annual SoberRide® ridership (the charity also offers its free safe ride service on St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Independence Day and the winter holidays through and including New Year’s Eve) with 5,000 total riders in 2018 versus 1,655 in 2016 (the last year when the SoberRide® program was serviced by participating local taxicab companies).

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

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 the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William.

Sponsors of this year’s Halloween SoberRide® campaign include the 395 Express Lanes, AAA Mid-Atlantic, Anheuser-Busch, Brown-Forman, Constellation Brands, District of Columbia Association of Beverage Alcohol Wholesalers, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Giant Food, Glory Days Grill, Lyft, MillerCoors, Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington and the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association.

Since 1991, WRAP’s SoberRide® program has provided 78,926 free safe rides home to potential drunk drivers in the Greater Washington area.

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 historically keeping the metro-Washington area’s alcohol-impaired traffic deaths lower than the national average.

More information about WRAP’s SoberRide® initiative can be found at www.soberride.com.