SAN ANTONIO — The Free Rides Program in San Antonio has plea and warning if you head out and drink, especially right before the holiday. The day before Thanksgiving is considered a dangerous and deadly night on the roads. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA there's a spike in over drinking that day, which is also known as Blackout Wednesday.
Executive Director of Free Rides Azeza Salama knows the pain of losing someone from the senseless crime. In February 2016, she said, her fiancé Johnny Hernandez was killed by a drunk driver.
"My hunny was a truck driver in the U.S. Army," she said. "He had served two tours in Iraq to come back to the states, and literally die saving his family."
Salama and her two kids were in the car and survived the crash.
"When people say your life can change in a second, I understood that," she said. "I can relate to that."
Since then, she uses her pain for a purpose.
"I decided to take a turn," Salama said. "And say let’s get to the bottom of this. Let’s get behind the bar and talk to the bartenders. Let’s talk to the bar staff and the DJ."
The mother has spent years helping other victims to raise awareness about impaired driving. She explained in detail about the Free Rides program.
"It is basically a collation of bar owners that have come together on a preventive measure instead of a reactive measure," she said.
Salama said these bars will offer free rides to customers who need it. TXDOT has numbers of DUI crashes and injuries by county from 2021. Bexar County had a total 76 fatalities, 3rd in the state right behind Dallas and Harris county.
However, when you look at the city, San Antonio is second in the state with more crashes beating Dallas.
"Systemically, how can we change it," she said. "It is not going to happen overnight. But, we are here for the long fight."