PORTLAND, Maine — This holiday season the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety and the Governors Highway Safety Association are teaming up with the rideshare app Lyft to offer discounted rides to help prevent drunk driving.
Anyone using Lyft in the greater Portland area, new or existing customers, can get a $20 credit if they use the code SMARTRIDE4ME.
The credit can be used starting November 27 until January 1, 2020 and only applies to rides between the hours of 5 p.m. and 3 a.m.
“The goal of the program is to reduce the number of people getting behind the wheel after they’ve been drinking,” said Lauren Stewart, Director of the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety.
Stewart says the partnership is a good way to keep roads in Maine safe.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, an average of 300 people die in drunk driving crashes in the U.S. the week between Christmas and New Year.
In 2016, 781 people died in drunk-driving-related crashes in the month of December alone. Alcohol-impaired fatalities make up more than a quarter of all crash fatalities in the country.
During the Holiday season, law enforcement agencies increase patrols and drivers will begin seeing a set of ads depicting the consequences of driving drunk.
