HALLOWEEN PLANNER
SAMPLE NEWS RELEASE

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: [Date]
CONTACT: [Name, Phone Number, E-mail address]

Note: before filling in the names of the Local Leader/Organization and Local Law Enforcement Official, you MUST contact these officials and receive their permission to use their names in this press release, and you must get their approval for the language of their quotations, and any changes or additions they may require. Only after this is done can you send out the press release.

Don’t Let Halloween Turn into a Nightmare
Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk

[Dateline and/or Date] – With more than half of the nation’s traffic fatalities over Halloween weekend related to alcohol, [Local Leader/Organization] announced today the launch of a strong push this Halloween season to remind all party-goers to always remember to designate a sober driver.

“Halloween is most often thought of as a time for family fun – full of funny costumes, trick-or-treating with the kids and the annual haunted houses,” said [Local Leader]. “But unfortunately, Halloween has also become a very dangerous and deadly time of year due to a jump in drunk driving.”

In fact, 53 percent of all highway fatalities across the nation over Halloween weekend in 2003 were alcohol-related – and 45 percent of the total fatalities involved a driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of 0.08 or higher -- the legal limit in every state including [Your State].

That’s why [Local Organization] is joining with other national, state and local highway safety officials this season to aggressively promote the designated driver message before the Halloween parties begin.

[Optional enforcement quote if planning a strong enforcement push: “Our message is simple this Halloween – You Drink & Drive. You Lose,” said (Local Law Enforcement Official). “We want anyone planning on using alcohol this Halloween to play it smart and designate a sober driver before the party begins. We will be out in full force to catch, stop and arrest impaired drivers.]

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

• Be responsible and never drive impaired.
  
  
• If you plan to drink, choose your sober driver before going out.
  
  
• Once impaired, use mass transit, call a cab or ask a sober friend to get you home.
  
  
• If all else fails, just stay where you are and sleep it off.
  
  
• Always buckle up – it’s still your best defense against an impaired driver.
  
  
• If you are hosting a Halloween party, make sure all of your guests leave with a sober driver.

[Optional Sober Rides paragraph: (Local Organization) is promoting a special “sober rides” program this Halloween from (Dates and Times). To get more information about a free ride home if you find yourself impaired on Halloween, call (Number).

Impaired driving is no accident – nor is it a victimless crime, [Local Leader] said. Statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for 2004 show that nearly 13,000 people died in highway crashes involving a driver or a motorcycle operator with an illegal blood alcohol concentration level of 0.08 or higher.

“Driving a vehicle or a motorcycle while impaired is simply a dumb thing to do,” [Local Leader] said. “Not only do you risk killing yourself or someone else, but the trauma and financial costs of a crash or an arrest for drunk driving are significant.

“Don’t let your Halloween turn into a nightmare. Please plan ahead, be responsible and always designate a sober driver before all Halloween festivities,” [Local Leader] said. “Remember, Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk.”

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