The number of fatal crashes connected to alcohol always spikes on St. Patrick鈥檚 Day, and it spikes even higher for the first few hours of March 18.
That鈥檚 why the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) is teaming up with Lyft again to offer free rides home so the luck of the Irish doesn鈥檛 turn bad on those celebrating the holiday.
鈥淣early four out of 10 traffic fatalities on St. Patrick鈥檚 Day in this country involve drunk drivers,鈥� said Kurt Erickson, the president of WRAP. 鈥淭he greater concern is actually the six hours after St. Patrick鈥檚 Day 鈥� That鈥檚 when three quarters聽鈥� 75 percent exactly 鈥� of all US traffic deaths, involve alcohol impaired drivers.鈥�
In an effort to reduce that figure, WRAP is teaming up with Lyft to offer promo codes good for the first $15 of a fare for Lyft rides taken between 4 p.m. Sunday and 4 a.m. Monday.
鈥淓nter a sober ride code in the app鈥檚 promo section,鈥� said Erickson. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be putting up a code on our website聽鈥斅� 鈥� at 3 p.m. Sunday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 up to a $15 fare, but quite frankly the average fare for this program is $12 鈥� But let鈥檚 say your fare home is $20. We鈥檒l still pay for the first $15, you鈥檒l simply be on the hook for the remaining $5.鈥�
This promo runs only on Sunday afternoon into Monday morning, and is vaild in Prince George鈥檚 and Montgomery counties in Maryland, and Loudoun, Prince William, Fairfax and Arlington counties in Virginia and D.C.
