Eugene Delgaudio - Sterling District
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Free cab rides offered now to would-be drunk drivers in Sterling and Eastern Loudoun

December 1, 2015

The Loudoun Times Mirror reports:

In an effort to combat that time of year that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that there's a "spike in drunk-driving crashes," a local nonprofit organization announced that free cab rides will be offered to would-be drunk drivers throughout eastern Loudoun County during the winter holidays.

Offered by the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), the annual Holiday SoberRide� program will operate between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. each day between Friday, Dec. 11 and Friday, Jan. 1, 2016, as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk, holiday period.

During the evening hours, between Dec. 11 and Jan. 1, Washington-metropolitan area residents celebrating with alcohol may call the toll-free SoberRide phone number:

1-800-200-TAXI

...........and be afforded a no-cost (up to $30 fare), safe way home. (AT&T wireless users can dial #WRAP for the same service.)

"Last December, nearly 1,200 (1,180) Greater Washington residents did the right thing and availed themselves of this lifesaving service rather than possibly driving home impaired," said Kurt Gregory Erickson, WRAP's president. "For SoberRide's hours of operation during just last New Year's Eve, such ridership (420) translated into the removal of a would-be drunk driver from our shared roadways every 68-seconds."

SoberRide is offered in the District of Columbia; throughout the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George's; and throughout the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, (eastern) Loudoun and Prince William. In these areas, local taxicab companies will be providing this no-cost service to local residents age 21 and older who otherwise may have attempted to drive home after drinking.

For the rest of this published report go to this link:

http://www.loudountimes.com/news/article/free_cab_rides_offered_to_would_be_drunken_drivers_in_eastern_loudoun898

PREVIOUSLY POSTED ANTI-DRUNK DRIVING PUBLIC STATEMENT: (full statement at this link in the headline below)

Thank you Checkpoint Strikeforce: Sterling, Virginia's "Beautiful" New Anti-Drunk Driving Campaign Kicks Off

September 9, 2015

Thank you Checkpoint Strikeforce: Sterling, Virginia's 'Beautiful' New Anti-Drunk Driving Campaign Kicks Off


Effort Celebrates Beauty of Designated Drivers in a Commonwealth Where Over One-Third of All Traffic Deaths Involve Drunk Drivers

Sterling's friend, the "2015 Checkpoint Strikeforce" anti-drunk driving campaign gets under way this week with the release of television and radio commercials celebrating the beauty of designated drivers.

Sterling Supervisor Delgaudio said "I promote all efforts to fight drunk driving since numerous incidents involving tragedies that can be prevented occur and there is a disproportionate number of deaths in this area due to drunk driving."

The commercials are part of a larger campaign to proactively communicate that nothing is more "beautiful" than a safe ride home after a night of drinking, whether it's in a cab, public transportation, with a sober friend or through a transportation network company such as Uber or Lyft.

Eighteen broadcast and 23 cable television stations will air an estimated 70,000 ads across Virginia. Nearly 50 radio stations in the Commonwealth will broadcast an estimated 14,000 radio ads supported by messages run on both digital and social media channels, as well as in Virginia's movie theaters and on billboards in the Commonwealth.

Also created is a hashtag social media campaign: #BeautifulRide, where anyone can celebrate those taxi, transit and designated sober drivers who deliver home safely passengers whom have been drinking alcohol.

The primary target for the campaign is males, ages 21-35.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data shows that males in that age group are disproportionately involved in DUI-alcohol related fatalities. According to 2014 Virginia Traffic Crash Facts (http://www.dmv.virginia.gov/safety/crash_data/crash_facts/crash_facts_14.pdf) prepared by the DMV, the Virginia Highway Safety Office, nearly 36-percent (35.85%) of all of Virginia's highway fatalities last year were alcohol-related.

Over 40-percent (40.63%) of those killed in Virginia's 2014 alcohol-related traffic crashes were ages 21-35.

The television and radio advertising is aimed at the planning ahead, or the "awareness" aspect of the campaign. The television commercial is viewable at this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ2Xpa6R43U

and features a young male enjoying a "guys night out" drinking and eating with friends at a sports bar and how his safe ride home at the end of the evening is "beautiful."

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE APRIL 4 2017

Online Resources for parents, insurance options for teens, etc.

Scott wrote me and asked this to be posted:

"(Since you) shared the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles page on responsible driving....

your audience may also be interested in the following resource":

http://www.sr22insurance.net/students-and-teens/

We are reaching out to organizations like yours to ensure that this information on responsible driving among teens reaches as many people as possible. The page shares valuable online resources for parents, available insurance options for teens, and safety apps and gadgets for parents and teens.

Happy to oblidge this request and update this page. -Eugene

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