MADD North Texas Affiliate and Dallas County Commissioner District 4 Dr. Elba Garcia recently announced a special incentive to keep people from driving impaired during the holidays. Dr. Garcia also chairs the Dallas County DWI Task Force. They offer Uber discount rates for all who pledge not to drink and drive during the holiday season.
Drunk driving deaths usually represent about a third of all highway fatalities. However, that percentage increases dramatically on New Year’s Eve and during the dangerous month of December. In 2018, 50 people died in alcohol-related crashes nationwide on Christmas Eve. That represented almost half of all traffic deaths. And on Christmas Day 2018, 35 people were killed (40% of all highway deaths).
Dallas County in Top Five for DUI Deaths
Texas Department of Transportation, (TxDOT) says 1,024 people died in drunk driving deaths on Texas roadways in 2017. Dallas County ranks in the top five Texas cities for DUI deaths, following Harris County.
“Our message to the public is very simple. If you’re going to drink, don’t drive,” said Commissioner Garcia. “Drunk driving kills one person every 50 minutes in the United States and injures one person every two minutes. We know that costs over 10,000 lives a year in our country.”
Dallas County DWI Task Force and MADD North Texas #DoYourPart Campaign uses local DFW social media influencers to spread their message. They partner with Uber to give discount codes for those who take a pledge to not drink and drive. Uber codes are active from 6 p.m. January 31 to 6 a.m. January 2.
Uber discount rates are available with codes on the MADD North Texas site at madd.org/north-texas under Take the Pledge.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
A mother whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 1980. MADD is the nation’s largest nonprofit working to end drunk driving. They help fight drugged driving, support the victims of these violent crimes and prevent underage drinking. MADD has helped to save nearly 380,000 lives and reduce drunk driving deaths by more than 50 percent.
