Pittsburgh, PA – In effort to reduce the number of impaired driving and pedestrian crashes over the Halloween holiday, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) tonight held an outreach event with the Pennsylvania DUI Association, AAA and the South Hills DUI Task force, to encourage the public not to drive impaired and to watch for pedestrians.
Law enforcement from Baldwin Borough and West Mifflin Borough collaborated with the safety partners at the Kennywood Park entrance to encourage Phantom Fright Night attendees to pledge not to drive impaired by drugs or alcohol this holiday.
“Unfortunately, we see many people make the poor decision to get behind the wheel under the influence,” said Lieutenant Matt Kearns of the Baldwin Borough Police Department. “Halloween especially, brings out more pedestrians than usual and alcohol diminishes a motorist’s ability to visibly see them.”
Kennywood guests were urged to sign the crashed car, and include a personalized message as part of their pledge. Attendees were reminded that with this promise they should remember to also wear a seat belt, obey the speed limit and to never text while driving.
Throughout the month, local law enforcement will continue to crack down on impaired drivers by conducting checkpoints to keep motorists/pedestrian’s safe.
According to PennDOT data, there were 52,382 DUI arrests in 2015. Pennsylvania had 859 crashes from Friday, October 30 through Sunday, November 1 during last year’s Halloween enforcement period. Since 2013, there have been 98 alcohol-related crashes statewide on October 31, of which 17 occurred in Allegheny County.
Since 2011, from the weekend prior to Halloween, to the weekend following the holiday, there have been 214 pedestrian crashes, statewide. Although the number of crashes have cut in half since 2011, it is important for motorists to maintain awareness of the pedestrians participating in Trick-or-Treat activities and designate a sober driver during celebrations.
“It is important to understand that lives are at risk every time someone gets behind the wheel impaired,” said Lieutenant Kearns.
For more information on impaired driving, visit www.penndot.gov/safety.
For regional twitter updates, visit 511PAPittsburgh.
