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Beware Halloween DUI Checkpoints

By Andrew Lu on October 29, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Halloween DUI checkpoints are planned across the country.

The holiday that has been traditionally celebrated by children trick-or-treaters has been embraced by adults as an opportunity to wear skimpy outfits and to drink.

As a result, Halloween has become one of the deadliest days for alcohol related accidents, and many states have ramped up their efforts to stop drunk driving.

For instance, Colorado started its "Heat Is On" DUI enforcement over the weekend to last through Halloween night. This enhanced enforcement will include increased DUI checkpoints, increased patrols, and extra vigilance to drunk drivers, reports the Sterling Journal-Advocate.

So if the scariest thing you thought you'd encounter Halloween night was a werewolf or vampire, you better think again as you could be faced with sharing a jail cell with an ex-con. And unlike Halloween frights, the scares do not end the next morning.

Instead, the frights (and costs) of a DUI arrest will last for many months. You'll usually have to face a judge, pay fines and increased insurance premiums, enroll in driver's ed courses, deal with a license suspension, and install an ignition interlock device. And for individuals with a history of drunk driving, you could face serious prison time as well.

And don't forget those DUI attorney's fees to possibly keep you out of jail.

Don't want to fall prey to this horrific fate? Consider the not-so-scary alternatives to driving drunk:

  • Choose a designated driver. You can repay him or her with some late night breakfast, or a sober ride home from the next party.
  • Sleep at the host's house, or a friend's place nearby.
  • Program a cab company's number into your phone.
  • Take public transportation. Don't take any chance of driving home drunk, by not driving at all.

Halloween DUI checkpoints will be out there, and they will be out to get you. So do the safe thing and don't drink and drive.

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