San Antonio and Texas have a drinking-and-driving problem.
Over the past two years, the number of alcohol-related road accidents in Texas is down slightly, but the number of fatalities attributed to intoxication while operating a vehicle has gone up, according to recent Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) statistics.
Meanwhile, Bexar County ranks third-highest in the state in its number of DUI/DWI crashes, according to TxDOT’s numbers. In 2022, Texas witnessed a 2% rise in drunk driving-related fatalities, with a staggering 1,162 lives lost. That translates to about three deaths a day.
Even more tragic: not a day has gone by since November 7, 2000, that the Lone Star State didn’t record a road fatality.
San Antonio’s newly formed Free Rides Project is working to put a dent in those numbers by encouraging businesses that serve alcohol to offer free ride share services to patrons who need them.
Each partnering bar or restaurant displays a large green sticker noting its participation in the Project. All a patron needs to do is ask for a manager who’s authorized to order them a Lyft or Uber.
Currently, participating businesses — which include El Camino and Besame food truck parks, Dive Bar and Restaurant and Dakota East Side Icehouse — pay for the rides out of pocket. However, the Free Rides Project is in the process of applying for nonprofit status, which will allow it to raise funds to defray or completely cover those costs.
“Of course we want to be able to fund the Free Rides for the bars through the organization, because so many of these bars are already struggling to keep their doors open,” Free Rides Program Executive Director Azeza Salama said. “A lot of [business owners] can’t afford to sustain such a commitment, but these are bars that are actively investing in protecting their community, so we’re working diligently with the city, state and county to get this initiative off the ground.”
Survivor-Victim
Salama, a bubbly San Antonio native, has good reason for her serious investment in the coalition’s cause. She herself is a victim-survivor of a drunk driving accident.
On a balmy evening just over eight years ago, she, her children and fiancé, Johnny Hernandez, took a drive to pick up tacos for their evening meal. On the way home, an allegedly intoxicated motorist struck Salama’s vehicle head-on.
Hernandez died on impact, as did the driver of the other vehicle.
At the time, Salama worked in the insurance industry, where she’d created an impressive community network of movers and shakers. The life-altering crash prompted her to leave the profession and go to work for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
“Drunk drivers really don’t discriminate when they’re behind the wheel. Race, religion, it truly doesn’t matter,” Salima said. “Since then, it’s become very important to me to be out in the community and talking about this.”
Relaunched effort
Salama’s background in fundraising and project management worked in her favor when she made the move to MADD, and then to Free Rides, which launched in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic reached U.S. shores.
At the initial launch, co-founders Albert Cortez — owner of Perfect 10 gentleman’s club — and Henry Avelar had several bars signed up to participate in the program, but many didn’t survive the pandemic.
Undaunted, Salama relaunched the program in 2023 with a newfound verve.
“We want to bring systematic change to the community by having these difficult conversations, and changing the way people look at these businesses,” she said. “I always tell interested parties, ‘You’re not just a bar owner, my friend. You’re a business owner.'”
Once Free Rides reaches its nonprofit status, Salama plans to apply for federal grants to help cover the cost of rides. That will allow the program to offer stipends or reimbursements to participating businesses, lightening the financial burden for both patrons and bar owners.
The cost of a ride share service isn’t the only deterrent partygoers face when they’re out on the town, however. Some worry that if they hail a Lyft or Uber, they’ll return to the next day to find out their own vehicle has been towed, Salama said.
To that end, she and the organization’s founders are encouraging local policymakers to create a city ordinance that would prevent towing companies from removing vehicles left by Free Rides users.
“We’re really trying to mitigate each factor that might deter someone from asking the bar to order them a ride home,” Salama said. “I always say we’re trying to be proactive, not reactive. There can be a stigma surrounding asking for help getting home, and that’s probably the toughest part of this grassroots initiative. But we have to have these difficult, taboo conversations, because they can literally save lives.”
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This article appears in Mar 20 – Apr 2, 2024.