Zendrive, Lyft, Uber Partner With Road Safety Leaders to Award $50,000 for Safer Streets

After studies show distracted driving is 100 times worse than thought, from main streets to school routes, #FundMyStreets helps fix the problem

News provided by

Zendrive, Inc.

Nov 08, 2018, 09:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today road safety and mobility pioneers Zendrive, Lyft, Uber, Lime, Bird, Juno and HopSkipDrive, as well as the nonprofits StopDistractions.org, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and Together for Safer Roads, have announced the #FundMyStreets partnership to award $50,000 to community programs to improve traffic safety.

The public is invited to visit fundmystreets.com to learn more and apply.

Zendrive, the leader in driving behavior data, recently found in its Distracted Driving Snapshot that driver phone use is 100 times worse than official estimates. In addition, its School Safety Snapshot found that unsafe driving is rampant around US schools, meaning that this behavior is not restricted to highways -- it's in everyone's backyard. They've founded the #FundMyStreets partnership to empower local solutions to these local problems.

The coalition brings together national leaders with the shared goal of preventing traffic crashes, injuries and deaths.

"As parents, caregivers and members of our school communities, our greatest responsibility is to keep kids safe," said Zendrive's CEO, co-founder and new father, Jonathan Matus. "Our mission is to use data to make roads safe, and our School Safety Snapshot is a tool built around Zendrive data that helps communities design programs to deter risky driving."

"Lyft supports #FundMyStreets because we're committed to safe travel in all the communities we serve," said Kate Sampson, vice president of Risk Solutions at Lyft, a member of Together for Safer Roads. "We're excited to see the innovative and inspired ideas that people propose and the positive impact they have on everyone using the roads -- walkers, bike and scooter riders, drivers and passengers."

"Being connecting to the communities we serve allows us to understand their needs and give back in meaningful ways," said Ronen Ben David, CEO of Juno. "So many of our riders and drivers are parents, and whether they're using Juno to get around or walking, biking or riding transit, we want to help provide as safe a journey as possible."

"As the mix of transportation choices becomes more diverse, it is critical that everyone -- businesses, riders, local leaders -- stay committed to safety," said Toby Sun, CEO and

Co-founder of LimeBike. "The starting point for safety is our children: if the roads are safe for our children, then they're safe for adults too. Schools are an everyday destination for tens of millions of people in the U.S. and a powerful catalyst to make improvements."

"Distracted driving is an epidemic that affects every community across the country, and it needs to stop," said Jennifer Smith, CEO of StopDistractions.org. "#FundMyStreets is an important step in advocates, community leaders and businesses working together to prevent other families from being impacted like mine and countless others across our nation."

"Road safety is a critical public health challenge across the U.S. and impacts all of us, everyday," said David Braunstein, president of Together for Safer Roads. "By combining new technology and public-private partnerships, we're empowering local experts with a data-driven approach to address road safety challenges from the ground up."

U.S. applicants are invited to submit their plan for what their community would do with $50,000 to improve road safety before 11:59 pm PT on Monday, November 26, 2018 via fundmystreets.com. On Friday, November 30, finalists will be notified about making a 30-second video to support their proposal. By Monday, December 10, finalists must tweet their videos, tagging @zendrive and #FundMyStreets, and garner likes and retweets. The judges will select a winner from these videos, taking into account both the quality of the plan and the number of retweets. The winner, announced on Sunday, December 16, 2018, will win both the $50,000 for their project as well as access to Zendrive's road safety data to assess the effectiveness of their implementation.

Participants are encouraged to see how safe (or not) drivers are near local schools at zendrive.com/school, and to check out the Safe Routes to School National Partnership's resources for improving road safety.

SOURCE Zendrive, Inc.