MOUNT VERNON — This Halloween, area law enforcement will crack down on drunk drivers throughout the county with an aggressive Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over enforcement effort, and officers have given a fair warning to all partygoers: keep the party off the road.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), from 2007-2011, 52 percent of all national fatalities occurring on Halloween night involved a drunk driver.
In 2011, when Halloween fell on a Monday, 44 percent of the nation’s fatalities during the Halloween weekend occurred in a crash involving a driver or a motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher. Thirty-eight percent of fatalities on Halloween night occurred in a crash involving a driver or a motorcycle operator with a BAC of .08 or higher.
Young men are particularly at risk of being involved in a traffic crash as a result of “buzzed” or drunk driving. Males ages 21-34 comprised almost half of all drunk drivers who were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes nationwide during the 2011 Halloween period.
If you celebrate with alcohol, you don’t belong behind the wheel. A sober and safe ride after the party is the best treat you can give yourself and everyone else on the road this Halloween.
