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This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
The Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), in conjunction with Lyft, will offer free rides home to those who have been imbibing over the Independence Day holiday as part of its SoberRide initiative.
The initiative will run from July 4 at 8 p.m. to July 5 at 4 a.m. During this eight-hour period, area residents age 21 and older celebrating with alcohol across the Washington region can download the Lyft app to their phones, then enter the SoberRide code in the app’s “Promo” section to receive their no-cost (up to $15) safe transportation home. The promo code will be posted on July 4 at 7 p.m. at www.soberride.com.
“Nearly 40 percent of U.S. traffic fatalities during the Independence Day holiday involve drunk drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” said WRAP president Kurt Erickson. “And during the 2019 Independence Day holiday, over two-thirds of those killed in drunk-driving crashes were in crashes involving at least one driver with a blood-alcohol concentration of .15 or higher.”
COVID prevented last year’s Independence Day SoberRide initiative. During the 2019 campaign, a total of 817 individuals in the Washington region availed themselves of the service.
SoberRide also is offered for St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Halloween and the winter holiday season. Since 1991, the effort has provided more than 80,000 free rides home.
For information, see the Website at www.soberride.org.
