Lyft teams with Budweiser to curb drunk driving with free rides

Lyft has formed a partnership with Budweiser in an effort to reduce fatalities from drunk driving while also “celebrating beer drinkers.” The on-demand ride service announced that starting September 16 through the end of this year, Budweiser is providing up to 80,000 free rides on weekends between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. This offering is only available in New York state, Colorado, Illinois, and Florida.

“Drunk driving is 100 percent preventable. We want to celebrate people who ‘give a damn’ and arm them with easy ways to get home safely,” said Katja Zastrow, vice president of corporate social responsibility, better world, at Anheuser-Busch.

In order for people to take advantage of a free ride, they’ll need to find redeemable coupon codes posted to both Budweiser and Lyft’s Facebook and Twitter accounts each week. Limited to one per weekend, the coupons provide a free ride up to $10, similar to other promotions that Lyft has done previously. Lyft expects to provide 5,000 free rides each week, with the goal of reducing the 10,000 drunk driving-related deaths each year.

After finding a code, you’ll be directed to a site where you can claim it. From there, it’ll be automatically “dropped” into your account. That’s it — you won’t need to manually type in a code to secure a free ride in the app after a long night of partying with your friends.

This partnership is focusing on New York, Colorado, Illinois, and Florida because these are not only key markets for both Budweiser and Lyft, but also fall in the top 10 list of states with the most drunk driving-related fatalities. There’s no indication that this discount won’t work for any of Lyft’s ride offerings, but with a $10 limit, it’s likely that the best chance of you getting a free ride is either with a Lyft Line or regular Lyft car.

“By giving passengers access to 5,000 free rides each week, we hope everyone will think twice before getting behind the wheel after drinking and look to Lyft as a solution,” remarked Oliver Hsiang, Lyft’s vice president of partnerships.

Ride-hailing services such as Lyft and Uber have often touted their services as beneficial in the battle to reduce road-related fatalities, and the Lyft-Budweiser partnership offers riders incentives to not be foolish and risk an accident or worse by refusing to pay for a Lyft ride home.

One can hope that this partnership is successful in saving lives.