Free Lyft Rides Offered For St. Patrick's Day 2019 In Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA—While St. Patrick's Day is a fun time to drink with friends, don't try your luck at driving intoxicated. That's why the Washington Regional Alcohol Program is bringing back free Lyft SoberRides for St. Patrick's Day in Alexandria and the region.

SoberRides will be available from 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 17 to 4 a.m. on Monday, March 18. Residents 21 and up can use the SoberRide code in the Lyft app's promo section to redeem a ride up to $15. Riders pay for any additional amount over $15. The promo code will be posted at 3 p.m. on March 17 on www.SoberRide.com.

St. Patrick's Day is considered a high-risk holiday for intoxicated driving. Last year, a record 982 people in the DC area used SoberRide.

"Nearly 40-percent (37%) of all U.S. traffic fatalities during St. Patrick’s Day 2017 involved drunk drivers according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," said WRAP President Kurt Gregory Erickson in a news release. "Between midnight and 6:00 am the day after St. Patrick’s Day that year, three-fourths (75%) of all U.S. traffic deaths involved alcohol-impaired drivers."

This year, 11 DC area Irish restaurants joined as sponsors. These include The Dubliner Restaurant & Pub, Fadó, James Hoban’s Irish Restaurant & Bar, Kelly's Irish Times, Martin's Tavern and Rí Rá Irish Pub in DC; Murphy’s Grand Irish Pubs in DC and Virginia, O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub and Siné Irish Pub in Virginia; and The Irish Whisper and The Limerick Pub in Maryland.

SoberRide is available in Lyft’s Washington, D.C. coverage area which includes all or parts of the District of Columbia; the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William, the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park; and the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George’s.

Since 1991, SoberRide has provided 75,498 free rides home to keep drunk drivers off the roads in the DC region. WRAP's SoberRide program also operates on Cinco de Mayo, Independence Day, Halloween and the winter holidays.