Erickson is president and chief executive officer of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program.
Where are you from? How did you get to D.C.?
Boston-born but have made Virginia home for over 40 years following a family move from New York.
How did you get involved with WRAP?
I previously served in the public health arena as executive director of Northern Virginia’s oldest voluntary public health agency, the American Lung Association of Northern Virginia, and wanted to extend this public benefit work.
What is one thing that our readers should know about WRAP?
Washington metropolitan area residents may not think they know who the 29-year-old WRAP is but they’ve likely heard about the charity’s free cab ride service to prevent drunk driving, SoberRide. Since 1993, WRAP’s SoberRide program has provided 52,841 free cab rides home to would-be drunk drivers in the greater Washington area.
What’s best thing about your job?
Working on a public health and public safety issue which is 100 percent preventable.
What’s the toughest part?
Two things. Knowing that while alcohol-related traffic fatalities in the Washington metro area have been nearly halved since WRAP’s inception in 1982, roughly one-third of all local traffic deaths are still caused by drunk drivers. And the cruel randomness of drunk driving as a third of its victims are non-intoxicated drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
What’s is WRAP doing for holiday drinkers?
Providing SoberRide nightly — 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. — now through New Year’s Eve. In December, last year, 2,500 persons in greater Washington used this lifesaving service. We’re engaging all motorists to report suspected impaired drivers by safely dialing 911 in the District of Columbia and Maryland and #77 in Virginia.
— Scott McCabe
