Every year over the holidays, partygoers find themselves in the difficult situation of realizing that they are too impaired to drive home safely. In an effort to prevent these partygoers from getting behind the wheel, the Washington Regional Alcohol Program offers a 2014 Holiday SoberRide Campaign. As part of this campaign, intoxicated individuals are able to call for a free and safe ride home. The program is one of the nation’s most successful free cab ride programs for would-be impaired drivers. Since 1993, over 61,002 safe rides home have been provided.
How Does the SoberRide Program Work?
This wonderful initiative is important for all drivers because the holiday season is a high-risk period for drunk driving-related crashes and injuries. The program works as follows:
- This program offers a free ride home, up to a fare of $30. Anything over $30 is the responsibility of the person taking the ride.
- The free ride is available between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
- The free ride is offered nightly between December 12th and January 1st.
- Users of this service must be age 21 or older.
- To reach a SoberRide driver, call 1-800-200-TAXI. You cannot call a participating taxi company directly to reserve a SoberRide.
- In Maryland, all calls must originate from Montgomery County or Prince George’s County, or the cities of Rockville, Bowie, College Park, Gaithersburg, Greenbelt, and Takoma Park.
- SoberRides cannot be reserved in advance. The service must be called during the available program hours.
- The participating cab company in Montgomery County is Barwood, Inc. Users of the service are asked to watch for a cab from this company in the area from which they are calling.
We strongly encourage you to help spread the word about this amazing program by sharing a link to this article on Facebook and Twitter!
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