New Year’s Eve: Helpful Tips To Stay Safe and Enjoy!

3…2…1…. Happy New Year! This is probably the year to skip elaborate celebrations, but one thing that never changes is counting down til midnight to ring in the new year.

New New Year’s Eve is just around the corner, so remember commonsense safety practices in your celebrations. Drinking and driving is usually at an all-time-high during the holidays. According to the official CDC website, “every day, 29 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashed that involve an alcohol-impaired driver” (CDC). Any amount of alcohol in your system can severely impact your response time. Some other ways alcohol can impact your driving include; lack of coordination, reduces your concentration, slower reaction time, decreased vision, and it inhibits your judgement.

A popular safe alternative to impaired driving is the Washington Regional Alcohol Program’s SoberRide program. The SoberRide program partners with Lyft and gives adults age 21 or higher fee-ride codes up to $15 in order to prevent drinking and driving. The codes will be released at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 31, 2020 (New Year’s Eve) and will be available for the first 1000 Lyft passengers. The code will work between the hours of 10:00 p.m. Thursday, December 31, 2020 and 2:00 a.m. Friday, January 1, 2021.

You can learn about Lyft’s safety and health requirement for rideshare and how the company is protecting it’s drivers and riders from COVID-19 here.

Other Helpful Tips to Stay Safe While Ringing in the New Year

• Stay hydrated before and while you are celebrating;
• Use a designated driver plan;
• Consider other methods of transportation if you plan to drink;
• Use the RideShare program;
• Don’t let your friend’s get behind the wheel while intoxicated;
• Don’t forget your mask and to socially-distance!

You can visit www.soberride.com for the code starting at 9:00 p.m., Thursday, December 31, 2020.