Sheriff Mark Curran announced the Lake County Sheriff’s Office is conducting Halloween traffic safety patrols beginning Friday, October 26 and running through Thursday, November 1, 2018.  Funding for this traffic safety campaign is made possible through a grant provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Administration, and is administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

“If you are planning to drink alcohol on Halloween night, plan for a cab, ride-sharing service or designate a sober driver to get you home safely,” stated Sheriff Mark Curran. “Drinking and driving is not only dangerous to yourself and others, it’s costly as well. If you’re caught drinking and driving, you could face jail time, lose your driver’s license and your vehicle, and pay thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees, fines, car towing, higher insurance rates, and lost wages. Make the smart choice, don’t drive drunk and always wear your seatbelt.”

According to NHTSA, 44% of all people killed in motor vehicle crashes on Halloween night, from 2012 to 2016, were in crashes involving a drunk driver. Children out trick-or-treating, and those who accompany them, are also at risk, as 14% of pedestrian fatalities on Halloween night (2012-2016) involved drunk drivers. Younger drivers are most at risk: The 21- to 34-year-old age group accounted for the most fatalities (46%) in drunk-driving crashes on Halloween night in 2016.

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