Don’t Get Xtreme On Halloween!
Drunk Driving: a ‘Nightmare on DUI-Street’

(ATLANTA) Don’t let your Halloween weekend turn into a nightmare!

Halloween has become a favorite Fall tradition for little kids in costumes and for bigger kids who just want to crunk. But, get extreme this Halloween and your celebration will become a nightmare if you drink and drive. Metro police agencies will be cracking down early this Halloween to unmask the holiday as one of the most dangerous on Atlanta’s adult party calendar. Keep your Halloween party plans from melting down into a ‘Nightmare on DUI-Street’.

On Halloween, more than half of all fatal crashes are alcohol-related.

The movies don’t call it ‘Night of the Dead’ for nothing! Halloween has haunting consequences for drunk drivers that would make even a vampire’s blood curdle. Across the country last year, 58-percent of all Halloween highway fatalities involved drivers with a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. That makes Hollywood horror movies pale in comparison to the real life carnage caused by the drunk-driver lurking behind the wheel of the car next to you.

Drive Drunk and the Party’s Over -- DUI-Patrols Target Atlanta Metro Area

It’s a party that’s just not worth dying for. “With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, we want to make sure Georgia revelers don’t take the party to our roadways, putting young trick-or-treaters and responsible drivers at risk,” said Director Bob Dallas at the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). “Highway safety officers throughout Georgia and the metro Atlanta area will be out in full force arresting drunk drivers and taking them straight to jail.”

Pre-Halloween DUI Crackdown NO TREAT For Impaired Drivers

On Friday, October 23th, H.E.A.T. Units will be teaming-up with the Atlanta Police (APD) DUI Task Force, the Georgia State Patrol NightHawks, and the Metro Atlanta Traffic Enforcement Network (MATEN). MATEN includes Traffic enforcement officers from Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Fayette, Clayton and Henry counties. They’ll conduct concentrated patrols around metro Atlanta and set up a joint Halloween sobriety roadcheck after the news conference at the nearby Fulton/Clayton County line.

MEDIA INVITED: Halloween HEAT News Conference, Photo-Ops & Ride-Alongs

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD-GA) will present a drunk driving victim’s story at the GOHS news conference. Starting at 8:00PM Friday, October 23th, officers will meet at APD’s Special Operations Section Headquarters. This year’s Halloween HEAT initiative is dedicated to the memory of 18-year APD veteran, Sgt. Darrell Johnson, who was killed by a drunk driver on the morning of last year’s Halloween HEAT news conference.

HALLOWEEN NEWS CONFERENCE LOCATION:
• 180 Southside Industrial Blvd SE, Atlanta, GA 30354
• Phone (404) 209-5260

Reporters Invited.. Halloween HEAT = Zero Tolerance for Drunk Drivers

Attend the Halloween HEAT news conference and briefing and then follow police units as they work the sobriety check point Friday night. Blood-alcohol-testing “BAT-Trailer” units will be assigned to the road check. Wreckers will stand-by to tow vehicles impounded from drunk drivers. Remember, if drivers are Over the Limit, they’ll be Under Arrest. Halloween HEAT means Zero Tolerance for drunk drivers in Georgia. For more information the night of the crackdown, contact APD DUI Task Force Sgt. Ron Miniatis at 404-209-5260.

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