We know the Lyft platform can play an important role in reshaping transportation, cities, and the way we live. That’s why we’re thrilled to support the Department of Transportation’s “Call to Action” and do our part to make the nation’s roads as safe as possible. We’re committed to building safer communities for drivers, riders, and the community at large. Here are some of the ways:
Lyft is introducing products to help reduce driving behavior that may contribute to collisions and fatalities. This helps improve road safety for not only riders and drivers, but also other vehicles and pedestrians on the road.
Smooth Cruiser Program: We recently launched our Smooth Cruiser Program, which provides weekly reports to participating drivers to help inform them of their driving behavior and encourage them to adopt safer driving practices. These Smooth Cruiser Reports provide drivers with specific insight into their driving behaviors across three categories: gentle braking, smooth turning and whether the driver’s phone is mounted while the vehicle is in motion. An average score is then provided and is based on how the driver compares to all other participating Lyft drivers in their region. Early results of the report have shown improvements across all these categories, and are helping drivers make better informed decisions on the road.
Real Time Speeding Alerts: Lyft also offers drivers the option to utilize real time speeding alerts to help decrease driving behaviors like speeding. When activated and driving with a rider in the vehicle, the Lyft app will signal a multi-stage alert to inform the driver that they are exceeding the speed limit by 5 mph or more.
Vision 360: Through the Smooth Cruiser Report, Lyft provides drivers visibility into their driving behaviors, and we take that one step further using Vision 360, which sends general safety reminders to drivers. In 2022, we focused our Vision 360 campaign on having drivers reduce their hand-held phone use while driving. This campaign saw a 10% reduction in hand-held phone use.
Beyond rideshare, Lyft is committed to investing in road safety measures for users across transit, bikes and scooters. This year, we are investing $35k in partnerships with organizations and cities to promote multimodal roadway safety in the following ways:
Vision Zero: Lyft is giving $20k to Vision Zero to increase access to safe and equitable multimodal transportation, and develop and expand training designed to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries.
Denver Bike Lanes: Lyft is also providing the city of Denver with $15k to support their effort to build two miles of protected bike lanes in downtown Denver in 2023. This project will close a major bike network gap and improve safety and comfort for all roadway users.
We continue to see the benefits our investments have had on road safety, and the positive impact rideshare as a whole has had on preventing impaired driving. Research shows that when Lyft enters a market, DUI incidents decrease.
Reduction in Alcohol-Involved Crashes: According to Lyft’s 2022 Economic Impact Report, 65% of Lyft riders say they plan to use rideshare when they are planning to drink alcohol or use another substance. This trend is seen across the US, where rideshare has been associated with an 11% decrease in alcohol-involved fatal crashes. Furthermore, studies commissioned by the National District Attorneys Association found that Lyft was associated with a 40% decrease in DUI charges in Los Angeles, 40% decrease in DUI arrests in Chicago, and 52% decrease in DUI arrests in Atlanta. These are just a few of the cities impacted by rideshare.
Supporting Measures to Prevent Impaired Driving: Beyond research, Lyft provides funding to the Governors Highway Safety Association’s (GHSA) state grant program to support states’ efforts to reduce impaired driving. These grants are used to fund proven and innovative measures to prevent impaired driving during the winter holidays. In 2022, these states included CO, MD, MO, and TX. This year, Lyft will continue to support the GHSA’s grant program.