In Missouri alone, there were 312 alcohol‐relating driving deaths in 2020, which equates to 32% of the total number of people killed on Missouri roadways. There were also 61 people killed and 269 seriously injured in Missouri traffic crashes between December 10, 2020, and January 1, 2021. Missouri’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan, Show Me Zero, outlines the state’s plan addressing occupant protection, distracted driving, speed and aggressive driving, and impaired driving.
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) was one of four State Highway Safety Offices to receive a grant from GHSA, ride-hailing company Lyft and Responsibility.org to prevent impaired driving during the 2022 Holiday season. With the funding, MoDOT encouraged safe transportation alternatives and not to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol through promoting Lyft ride credits via advertisements as part of the state’s “Show Me Zero” driving campaign.
MoDOT provided $10 Lyft ride credits throughout Thanksgiving, the Winter Holidays and New Year’s in one continuous holiday campaign. They learned a critical lesson about the need to break their campaign into separate periods to differentiate between holidays to track ride credit claims and redemptions.
With funds remaining, MoDOT provided $15 ride credits for the 2023 Super Bowl and St. Patrick’s Day holiday, promoting ride-hailing services as a designated sober driver.
A total of 834 rides were provided with this grant funding and over 3.8 million Missourians were reached via social media.