Prince George's County Police Chief John Farrell, right, joins WRAP Board Member George Pakidis (Red Top Cab) during the Halloween news conference to call attention to safe celebrating.

In the last six years alone, WRAP's SoberRide^TM program has successfully aided in the reduction of alcohol-related traffic fatalities over high-risk times of the year providing over 8,800 cab rides to area residents. Alcohol-related fatalities were down and calls for cabs were steady during the SoberRide^TM campaigns for Halloween 1998 as well as St. Patrick's Day and the Fourth of July weekend this year.

Unfortunately, holidays are often a time of drinking and driving dangers, and Halloween 1998 was no exception. WRAP, in partnership with Prince George's County Police Department, kicked off the SoberRide^TM campaign amidst tombstones and mausoleums during a news conference at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland, Md.

The heart-wrenching tale of WRAP board member Jeff Levy losing his 21-year-old son, Jonathan, in a drunk driving crash on Halloween 1997 touched many hearts and opened many eyes to the deadly issue of drinking and driving.

Sponsored by AT&T, Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association (WANADA), Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Budweiser, the campaign initiated 274 cab rides, over 60 percent more than last year, between 5 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 31 and 3 a.m. on Sun., Nov. 2.

Unfortunately, despite all the efforts, at least one person was killed locally in an alcohol-related crash on Halloween. But in March, the St. Patrick’s Day holiday fared better. For the third consecutive year, WRAP ensured another alcohol-related, fatality-free St. Patrick's Day.

Kicking off WRAP’s SoberRide^TM campaign at Fado Irish Pub, located in the District, the free cab service was offered to those 21 and over from Wednesday, March 17 at 5 p.m. to Thursday, March 18 at 3 a.m. Cab calls increased 21 percent from last year, resulting in 240 free rides home.

In 1997, the Fourth of July was the third deadliest holiday of the year resulting in 508 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in the United States. With this information in mind, WRAP again sponsored its free cab service over Independence Day weekend this year.

The region’s blistering heat wave, many family barbecues and the crack-down on drinking at the Fourth of July fireworks display on the Mall may have deterred some party-goers because there were no deaths in the Washington Metro area due to alcohol-related traffic crashes during the 1999 holiday weekend.

AT&T, WANADA, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Budweiser also sponsored this life-saving campaign from 5 p.m. on Friday, July 3 to 5 p.m. on Monday, July 5. Joining with WRAP, their forces brought in 196 calls from celebrants compared to the 270 calls recorded last year.

All WRAP’s SoberRide^TM programs received extensive media coverage and each campaign was promoted on 7,000 posters and 30,000 business card-sized reminders throughout the area.