The Montgomery County Department of Transportation, Montgomery County Department of Police, and Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services are encouraging residents to plan ahead and avoid impaired driving during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Officials say police will increase enforcement efforts while transportation officials promote safe ride options to help prevent crashes related to drunk driving.
County leaders are reminding residents to use alternatives such as designated drivers, rideshare services, or public transit. Programs like Washington Regional Alcohol Program’s SoberRide initiative will offer discounted Lyft rides during the holiday, and Ride On buses remain zero fare throughout the county. Officials say the effort is part of Montgomery County’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate serious and fatal roadway injuries by 2030.
The SoberRide program will operate from 4:00 pm on Tuesday, March 17 through 4:00 am on Wednesday, March 18. During that time, residents age 21 and older who have been drinking can request a ride home through the Lyft app by entering a SoberRide code in the app’s payment section. Each ride is free up to $15, and the code will be posted on the SoberRide website at 3:00 pm on St. Patrick’s Day.
The program is available throughout Lyft’s Washington D.C. service area, including the District of Columbia, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, and several counties and cities in Northern Virginia. WRAP said the initiative is designed to reduce impaired driving during a holiday when alcohol related crashes tend to increase, noting that more than one third of U.S. traffic deaths involve drunk drivers according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Since launching in 1991, the SoberRide program has provided more than 102,000 free rides to prevent impaired driving in the region.
