Stop Impaired Driving

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Date
CONTACT: Name, Phone Number

DON’T LET HALLOWEEN TURN INTO A NIGHTMARE
Major Effort Launched to Stop Impaired Driving Reminds Everyone
to Designate a Sober Driver Before the Halloween Parties Begin

[Date] – Halloween should be a time for fun, not tragedy, and this month [Local Leader/Organization Name] is joining with other national, state and local highway safety advocates and law enforcement officials to remind everyone to not let Halloween turn into a nightmare by planning ahead and designating a sober driver before attending any Halloween festivities that involve alcohol.

With Halloween falling on a weekend this year, there's a potential for an increase in impaired driving deaths during a holiday that already has a high rate of alcohol-related fatal crashes.

In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, two-thirds (66.6%) of all highway fatalities across the nation at Halloween in 2003 were alcohol-related.

That’s why [Organization Name] is making a special effort this year to remind everyone to plan ahead and designate a sober driver before all Halloween festivities that involve alcohol.

[Organization] is sponsoring sober rides for adults at least 21 years of age this Halloween from [Dates & Times]. To get more information about a free ride home (up to a $XX fare), please call [Number].

[Local Leader or Organization] offered these simple reminders for a safer Halloween weekend:

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; and
Or just stay where you are and sleep it off until you are sober.

And [Local Leader/Organization] said if you are hosting a Halloween party this year, make sure all of your guests leave with a sober driver.

Impaired driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. Nationally, more than 17,000 people died in alcohol-related highway crashes during 2003. Every 30 minutes, nearly 50 times a day, someone in America dies in an alcohol related crash. Millions more are injured. This means you, your friends and your family are regularly at risk.

But the nightmare of drinking and driving impaired does not end with the tragic death, disfigurement, disability and injury caused by impaired drivers. Real nightmares can also come from the dozens of other serious consequences that face those who choose to drive impaired.

The consequences if arrested while driving impaired are serious and real and often include jail time, the suspension or loss of a driver’s license, higher insurance rates, the embarrassment and humiliation of telling friends, family and employers, plus dozens of unanticipated expenses for attorney fees, fines and court costs, car towing and repairs, time away from work, and many others costs.

“It’s simply not worth the risk anyway you look at it,” said [Local Leader/Organization.] “To avoid some very real nightmares this Halloween, don’t even think about driving your car, truck or motorcycle while impaired. Be smart. Plan ahead. Designate a sober driver before the parties begin.”

For more information about other national efforts to stop impaired driving, please visit www.stopimpaireddriving.org.

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