SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS AND ROVING DUI PATROLS SCHEDULED FOR HALLOWEEN WEEKEND IN ADAMS, LANCASTER, AND YORK COUNTIES
Halloween is a time for making memories, not causing nightmares. This Halloween, the Center for Traffic Safety is reminding Halloween partiers that Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving. Sobriety checkpoints and roving DUI patrols will be conducted in Adams, Lancaster, and York Counties as part of the Center for Traffic Safety’s Sobriety Checkpoint and Expanded DUI/Underage Drinking Enforcement Program.
Law enforcement agencies throughout the region will be joining the National Halloween Impaired Driving Mobilization, which began on October 20 and will run throughout this weekend up to and including Halloween night, October 31. This year’s enforcement blitz focuses on underage drinking and pedestrian safety, and is reminding everyone that Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving.
“It’s so important to make a plan before heading out to the Halloween festivities,” said Barbara Zortman, director of the Center for Traffic Safety. “Even one drink can impair judgement. This is why it’s essential to have a plan for how you’ll safely get home after your night of partying, before you ever head out for your event. Remember: Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 45 percent of all people killed in motor vehicle crashes on Halloween night (6 p.m. October 31 – 5:59 a.m. November 1) from 2011 to 2015 were in crashes involving a drunk driver. Children out trick-or-treating and the parents accompanying them are also at risk, as 36 percent of fatal pedestrian crashes on Halloween night (2011-2015) involved drunk drivers. Younger drivers are most at risk: The 21-to-34-year age group accounted for the most fatalities (64%) in drunk-driving-related crashes during Halloween night in 2015.
In addition to protecting roadways from impaired drivers, the law enforcement community urges all drivers to look out for trick or treaters and pedestrians. Traditionally, Halloween is a children’s holiday with trick or treaters traveling up and down neighborhood streets in search of candy. But over the years, it has equally become an adult holiday.
Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving, so follow these simple tips to stay safe:
• Plan a safe way to get home before you attend the party. Alcohol impairs judgement, as well as reaction time. If you’re drunk you’re more likely to choose to drive drunk.
• Designate a sober driver, take public transportation, a car service, or call a sober friend or family member to get home.
• Use your community’s sober ride program; such as Uber, or download the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s SaferRide free phone app.
• If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact local law enforcement when it is safe to do so.
• If you see someone you think is about to drive while impaired, take their keys and help them get home safely.
For those walking on Halloween, the Center offers the following safety tips:
• Trick-or-treat in a group instead of by yourself.
• Carry a flashlight and/or place reflective tape on your costume so drivers can see you.
• Pay attention when walking! Never look at cell phones, do not walk with earbuds or headphones on, and always be aware of your surroundings.
• Walk on the sidewalk if one is available, or walk on the left side of the road facing traffic.
• Never walk in between parked cars, and only visit homes with lights on.
• Always cross the streets at a corner, and look left, right, and left again.
• Obey traffic signals while crossing streets.
• Lift your mask while walking house to house.
For all motorists in general:
• Be aware of the dates and times that trick-or-treat events take place in your neighborhoods and plan for increased pedestrian traffic.
• Drive at safe and slower speeds and be sure to scan the roadway in front of you for children and parents attempting to cross.
• Avoid distractions such as cell phones and other devices and be sure to give your full attention to the road in front of you.
• Pay extra attention at designated crossing areas and make sure that all pedestrians have finished crossing before proceeding forward.
• Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination so as not to feel rushed or in a hurry.
• Be aware that some costumes may be darker and harder to see so be sure to pay extra attention and adjust your speed accordingly in case you need to make a sudden stop.
Sobriety checkpoints, roving DUI patrols, and other enforcement activities organized as part of this program are funded with federal grant money provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and established on sections of roadway which have proven to be high incidence for impaired drivers both in terms of crashes and arrests.
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MEDIA NOTE:
Please see attachments for additional infographics and statewide statistics.
Pennsylvania statewide Crashes on October 31st for the past 3 years
Total 2014
(FRIDAY) 2015
(SATURDAY) 2016
(MONDAY)
Total 1314 444 340 391
ALCOHOL RELATED 98 32 52 22
NOT ALCOHOL RELATED 1216 412 288 369
