North Dakotans celebrating St. Patrick’s Day will have an incentivized option for safe rides home this weekend.
ND Sober Ride is a Vision Zero program through the North Dakota Department of Transportation. Vision Zero aims to eliminate deaths on North Dakota roadways in traffic crashes.
Justin Bailey is safety program information manager. He says this year marks five years North Dakota DOT has offered ND Sober Ride with the rideshare app Lyft, and it has now expanded to include Uber.
"You can go to visionzero.nd.gov to access a QR code, so you can scan that with your phone and that provides you with a voucher that then gives you ten dollars off your ride through either Lyft or Uber that will open up in the app on your phone. You claim your voucher, and you can claim it before you go out for the weekend for St. Patrick's Day, and it will be on your phone before you need it."
Bailey says impaired driving is a persistent problem in North Dakota. In the last five years, 167 people have died in alcohol related crashes in North Dakota.
"Alcohol contributes to about one third of all the fatal crashes we see in the state each year. The saddest thing about these, is they are a hundred percent preventable. Each one of those lives that we've lost represents not just a number, but a family, and a group of friends. Sometimes it's not even the driver who is the one that passes away, and they have to live with the guilt of having made that decision when they shouldn't have."
The vouchers are available to claim from March 13th through the 17th, or while they last.
