Stop Impaired Driving

Impaired Driving Can Turn Halloween into a Real Nightmare

Americans who drink and drive after parties and festivities make Halloween one of the year’s most dangerous holidays due to alcohol-related crashes.
In 2003, two-thirds (66.6%) of all highway fatalities at Halloween were alcohol-related.
But the nightmare of drinking and driving impaired does not end at the tragic death, disfigurement, disability and injury caused by impaired drivers.
If you’re caught and arrested for driving impaired, you face serious consequences and significant costs.
Violators often face jail time, the loss of their driver’s license, higher insurance rates, and dozens of other unanticipated expenses from attorney fees, other fines and court costs, car towing and repairs, lost time at work, etc.
Plus there is the added embarrassment, humiliation, and potential loss and consequence after informing family, friends, and employers.

Plan Ahead -- Designate a Sober Driver Before All Halloween Festivities

Plan ahead and designate a sober driver BEFORE you go out partying;
Don’t even think about getting behind the wheel of your vehicle if you’ve been out drinking;
Take the keys and never let a friend leave your sight if you think they are about to drive while impaired;
If impaired, call a taxi – use mass transit -- or get a sober friend or family member to come and get you;
Or just stay where you are and sleep it off until you are sober;
And if you are hosting a Halloween party this year, make sure all of your guests leave with a sober driver.

Impaired Driving is a Serious Crime

Although national alcohol-related highway fatalities during 2003 declined slightly in for the first time in several years (down 3% from 2002), there is still much more work to be done.
Too many people still don’t understand that alcohol, drugs and driving don’t mix.
Impaired driving is no accident – nor is it a victimless crime.
Impaired driving is one of America’s most deadly crimes. Nationally, in 2003, more than 17,000 people died in alcohol-related highway crashes. Millions more were injured.
Every 30 minutes, nearly 50 times a day, someone in America dies in an alcohol-related crash. This means you, your friends, your family are regularly at risk.
Legislators and law enforcement officials are becoming even more vigilant in combating impaired driving. 2004 marks the first year that .08 blood alcohol content (BAC) laws have been enacted in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

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