Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office: 2022 Halloween – Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving

BALLSTON SPA — This Halloween, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is teaming up with the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office to remind everyone that Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving. 

Drivers should be extra cautious on Halloween, as more pedestrians are out at night. If your night involves drinking, make sure you plan for a sober ride home. 

Between 2016 and 2020, there were 129 drunk driving fatalities on Halloween night (6 p.m. Oct.  31 – 5:59 a.m. Nov. 1). Adults between the ages of 21 and 34 had the highest percentage (68%) of fatalities in drunk-driving crashes on Halloween night in 2020. During that same night, 11 pedestrians were killed in drunk-driving crashes. 

About one-third of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States involve drunk drivers (with blood alcohol concentrations at or above .08 grams per deciliter). In 2020, there were 11,654 people killed in drunk-driving crashes. 

Nationally, it is illegal to drive with a BAC of .08 or higher, except in Utah, where the limit is .05 g/dL. The costs can be financial, too: If you’re caught drinking and driving, you could face jail time, lose your driver’s license and your vehicle, and pay up to $10,000 in attorney’s fees, fines, car towing, higher insurance rates, and lost wages. 

Celebrate with a Plan

• Remember that it is never okay to drink and drive. Even if you’ve had only one alcoholic beverage, designate a sober driver, call a taxi or a rideshare service to get home safely. 

• If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact the Sheriff’s Office at 518-885-6761 or call 911.

• See a friend who is about to drink and drive? Take the keys away and make arrangements to get your friend home safely.

For more information, visit: www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving.