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MPD to up DUI enforcement
By Patricio Chile on 10/29/07
Each year, countless people live a nightmare on Halloween. However, the terror isn't from crazed slashers or zombies, but rather from the life-threatening effects of drunken driving.
With D.C. being home to a variety of nightlife establishments and especially with a large college student community, District officials have stepped up efforts in the past few years to prevent tragedies resulting from people driving under the influence.
Checkpoint Strikeforce, a campaign that tightens law enforcement measures against drunken driving, is increasing its presence in the week leading up to Halloween. The campaign is sponsored by state and local law enforcement in the D.C. metropolitan area and the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, a public-private coalition against under-the-influence driving and underage drinking.
AU students have also expressed concerns and suggestions for reversing the high rate of these incidents.
Young people can find alternative ways to enjoy Halloween in D.C., said Claire Scattergood, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs. They can attend Dupont Circle's High Heel Drag Race, a running competition for drag queens, or they can trick-or-treat at the embassies, she said.
"There are other things to do on Halloween," Scattergood said.
More than 40 percent of fatalities from car crashes nationwide on Halloween in 2005 involved a driver or motor vehicle operator with an illegal blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Web site. Nationally, drunken drivers kill more than three times as many people on Halloween than on New Year's Eve, the Web site reported.
Many of these drunken drivers are young people. The target age group of the Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign is 21- to 30-year-old males, the demographic that predominantly drives under the influence. In Virginia, almost 80 percent of drunken driving arrests involve males in this age group, said Kurt Erickson, president of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program.
With D.C. being home to a variety of nightlife establishments and especially with a large college student community, District officials have stepped up efforts in the past few years to prevent tragedies resulting from people driving under the influence.
Checkpoint Strikeforce, a campaign that tightens law enforcement measures against drunken driving, is increasing its presence in the week leading up to Halloween. The campaign is sponsored by state and local law enforcement in the D.C. metropolitan area and the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, a public-private coalition against under-the-influence driving and underage drinking.
AU students have also expressed concerns and suggestions for reversing the high rate of these incidents.
Young people can find alternative ways to enjoy Halloween in D.C., said Claire Scattergood, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs. They can attend Dupont Circle's High Heel Drag Race, a running competition for drag queens, or they can trick-or-treat at the embassies, she said.
"There are other things to do on Halloween," Scattergood said.
More than 40 percent of fatalities from car crashes nationwide on Halloween in 2005 involved a driver or motor vehicle operator with an illegal blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Web site. Nationally, drunken drivers kill more than three times as many people on Halloween than on New Year's Eve, the Web site reported.
Many of these drunken drivers are young people. The target age group of the Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign is 21- to 30-year-old males, the demographic that predominantly drives under the influence. In Virginia, almost 80 percent of drunken driving arrests involve males in this age group, said Kurt Erickson, president of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program.
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