SOURCE: wrap.org
CONTACT: Kurt Gregory Erickson
President
PHONE: W. 703-893-0461
CELL. 703-625-2303
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2015
FREE HOLIDAY CAB RIDES OFFERED THROUGHOUT GREATER WASHINGTON TO THWART DRUNK DRIVING
HOLIDAY SOBERRIDE PROGRAM STARTS TONIGHT AND RUNS THROUGH NEW YEAR’S
Washington, DC, Dec. 11 – Combating that time of year when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that there’s a “spike in drunk-driving crashes*,” a local nonprofit organization announced today that free cab rides will be offered to would-be drunk drivers throughout the Washington-metropolitan area during the winter holidays.
Offered by the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), the annual
Holiday SoberRide® program will operate between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am each evening
between tonight, Friday, December 11, 2015 and Friday, January 1, 2016 as a way to
keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk, holiday period.
During the evening hours, between December 11th and January 1st, Washingtonmetropolitan
area residents celebrating with alcohol may call the toll-free SoberRide phone number 1–800–200–TAXI and be afforded a no-cost (up to $ 30 fare), safe way home. (AT&T
wireless users can dial #WRAP for the same service.)
“Last December, nearly 1,200 (1,180) Greater Washington residents did the right
thing and availed themselves of this lifesaving service rather than possibly driving
home impaired,” said Kurt Gregory Erickson, WRAP’s President. “For SoberRide’s hours
of operation during just last New Year’s Eve, such ridership (420) translated into the
removal of a would-be drunk driver from our shared roadways every 68-seconds.”
SoberRide is offered in the: District of Columbia; throughout the Maryland counties of
Montgomery and Prince George’s; and throughout the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington,
Fairfax, (eastern) Loudoun and Prince William. In these areas, local taxicab companies will
be providing this no-cost service to local residents age 21 and older who otherwise may have
attempted to drive home after drinking.
Since 1993, WRAP’s SoberRide program has provided 63,185 free cab rides home to would-be drunk drivers in the Greater Washington area.
Sponsors of this year’s Holiday SoberRide offering include: AAA Mid-Atlantic, Anheuser-Busch, Constellation Brands, Diageo, District of Columbia Association of Beverage Alcohol Wholesalers, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, Giant Food, MillerCoors, Red Top Cab of Arlington, Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, Volkswagen Group of America and the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association.
Participating taxicab companies include: Alexandria Yellow Cab; Barwood; Fairfax Yellow Cab; Loudoun Yellow Cab; Northern Virginia Checker Cab; Red Top Cab; Silver Cab of Prince George’s County; Yellow Cab of D.C.; and Yellow Cab of Prince William County.
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 related traffic deaths lower than the national average.
More information about WRAP’s SoberRide initiative can be found at
www.soberride.com.
*Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, see:
http://www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov/CAMPAIGNS/Drunk+Driving/Drive+Sober+or+Get+Pulled+Over/Holiday+Season/2015+Fact+Sheet
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http://www.wrap.org/pdfs/2015sr-holiday-pr2.pdf
