car2go NA has launched a pilot program that rewards car2go members who take online road safety education courses. The classes will be provided free-of-charge by car2go.

car2go also announced that it has joined the Road to Zero Coalition, a body composed of private companies, nonprofits, and government agencies dedicated to driving traffic deaths down to zero within the next 30 years.

The free online courses, which cost up to $49.95 each, focus on road safety and distracted driving; they are provided by the National Safety Council (NSC), according to car2go.

"Although car crashes are 100% preventable, we lost 40,000 people on our roads in 2016," said Deborah Hersman, NSC’s president and CEO. "NSC is pleased to partner with car2go in our mission to end preventable deaths on our nation's roadways."

The pilot program is expected to begin in the next 30 days. Members will be chosen at random in car2go’s New York and Washington, D.C. locations. The pilot program will enable those members to receive car2go drive-time credit for taking the NSC-approved online road safety courses.

"As the world's largest carsharing service, car2go can play a major role in helping to achieve Vision Zero's objective of eliminating road fatalities," said Paul DeLong, CEO of car2go NA. "We are continually enhancing our vehicles with advanced safety features, and we are proud to say that of the 8.75 million trips our North American members took last year, just .01 percent of them involved a road safety incident. Today, we take our commitment to road safety a step further with the launch of an innovative new pilot program that provides valuable online road safety courses to our members free-of-charge, and rewards them for strengthening their road safety knowledge."

car2go will continually evaluate the success of the pilot with the goal of making it available to more car2go members – and in additional car2go locations – in the coming months, says the company.

"We commend car2go for not only working to advance sustainable transportation, but also for making this important commitment to Vision Zero," said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives. "With this pilot program to reward its members who take a road safety course, car2go is sending an important message to the industry and the public that the campaign to save lives and prevent injuries on our streets must be an integral part of the effort to increase mobility in our cities."