Cinco de Mayo Sober Rides Provide Safe Journeys In NoVA, DC

VIRGINIA/DC — The SoberRide program will be available on Cinco de Mayo for people out partying and consuming alcohol.

The program, offered by the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program, will be in operation from 4 p.m. Wednesday to 2 a.m. Thursday.

During SoberRide’s hours of operation, area residents age 21 and older celebrating with alcohol may download the Lyft app to their phones, then enter a SoberRide code in the app's “Promo” section to receive their no cost — up to $15 — ride home.

The Cinco de Mayo SoberRide promo code will be posted at 3 p.m. on Wednesday on www.SoberRide.com.

SoberRide is offered throughout Lyft’s Washington, D.C. coverage area, which includes all or parts of the District of Columbia and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties.

Since 1991, WRAP’s SoberRide program has provided 80,102 free safe rides home to would-be drunk drivers in the D.C. area. The nonprofit also offers its SoberRide program on Independence Day, Halloween, the winter holidays and St. Patrick’s Day.

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"Lyft is proud of the role ridesharing has played in reducing impaired driving across the nation," Geoff Berman, Lyft’s National Regional Manager, East, said in a statement. "Here in the D.C. area, partnering with the Washington Regional Alcohol Program allows us to take our commitment to providing reliable, convenient, and responsible transportation a step further, particularly during times of the year when people are out celebrating and in need of a ride home."

Cinco de Mayo observes the date of the battle of Puebla in 1862, when the outnumbered Mexican army defeated the powerful French, who were occupying the area seeking unpaid debts. A common misconception confuses the holiday with Mexican Independence Day, which is Sept. 16. The country had already gained its independence from Spain years before the battle of Puebla, which was part of a war the Mexican army historians consider lost to the French.

While May 5 is an official holiday in Mexico, it isn't celebrated there the way it is in the United States. Military parades have occurred over the years in Puebla marking the battle win, but celebrations are low-key or nonexistent throughout much of the country.