The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has partnered with the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), Lyft, Silver Eagle Distributers Houston LLC, and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to offer 3,000 $10 Lyft discount codes this New Year’s Eve.
Harris County consistently yields the highest number of alcohol-related crash fatalities of any U.S. county from 2014 to present. In 2019, Harris County had 156 impaired driving fatalities. Seeing this trend, TxDOT has invested in new partnerships and innovative approaches to bring these needless fatalities down.
This is the first year Texas has been awarded a grant which is funded by Lyft and administered by GHSA to provide a combination of cash grants and ride credits that can be used toward discounts on Lyft fares. The goal of the program encourages individuals who consume alcohol and other impairing substances to use rideshare services, rather than put themselves and others at risk on the road.
The program is even more critical this year, as recently released National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data for the first half of 2020 found that while traffic volume was down significantly, motor vehicle fatalities did not fall at similar rates. Drivers who were on the road during this period were also more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as speeding, drunk driving and not buckling up.
For Harris County residents to receive the $10 discount code, they can sign up at https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/district/houston/sober-ride.html to be emailed the discount code the week of New Years.