Additional police patrols set for Halloween weekend

More police officers will be on the streets in Merced County over the Halloween weekend, looking to arrest drunken drivers.

“If you want to stay safe this Halloween, then make a plan to get home without driving if you’ve been drinking,” Sgt. Jay Struble said. “Even one drink impairs judgment, so plan to get home by taxi, ride-share, mass transit or designate a sober driver. Buzzed driving is drunk driving, so think ahead to stay safe.”

The Avoid the 11 DUI Task Force is deploying DUI saturation patrols with extra DUI officers on Halloween night to supplement routine patrol officers on one of the most deadly nights of the year.

Officers will be looking for the tell-tale signs of alcohol and or drug impairment during each enforcement contact all weekend long, as many will be attending parties where alcohol is served.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 43 percent of people killed in motor vehicle crashes on Halloween night from 2009 to 2013 were in crashes involving a drunken driver.

More than 10,000 people were killed in 2013 in drunken-driving crashes, with 867 of those in California, along with 23,000 others seriously injured across the state.

Even if you drive drunk and aren’t killed or seriously injured, you could end up paying as much as $10,000 for a DUI.

Recent statistics reveal that 30 percent of drivers in fatal crashes had one or more drugs in their systems.

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 11:26 PM with the headline "Additional police patrols set for Halloween weekend."