Police Increasing Patrols for One of the Deadliest Nights of the Year

Don't get tricky — police are reminding Sonoma County that they'll be out in full force through Monday, as part of a Halloween weekend crackdown on driving under the influence, run by the Aviod the 13 DUI Taskforce.

“There isn’t a Halloween costume clever enough to hide an impaired driver who’s made the poor decision to get behind the wheel,” Petaluma Police Chief Dan Fish said in a statement. “Whether you’ve had one too many or way too many it is just not worth the risk. Remember, buzzed driving is drunk driving.”

According to the taskforce, Halloween night is one of the deadliest times of the year for impaired drivers.

Officials quoted data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, emphasizing that it's especially dangerous after sundown.

Forty-eight percent of all highway fatalities across the nation on Halloween night in 2009 involved a driver or a motorcycle rider with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent or higher, according to a statement.

"We are participating in the enforcement effort," said Sgt. Jason Krause, of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety. "We will have additional officers deployed this weekend with the sole purpose of DUI enforcement."

The taskforce, led by the Petaluma Police Department, is run by grant funding aimed at getting drunken drivers off the roads, reducing alcohol-involved fatalities and injuries and raising general public awareness regarding the problems associated with drinking and driving.

In addition to Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Healdsburg and Sonoma, participating departments include the California Highway Patrol, Santa Rosa, Cotati, healdsburg, Sebastopol, Windsor, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, Sonoma State, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, Santa Rosa Junior College, Alcohol and Beverage Control and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Going out this Halloween? Here are some tips from the Anti-DUI taskforce:

The Avoid the 13 DUI Task Force recommends these simple tips for a safe Halloween celebration: 

• Plan a safe way home before the festivities begin.
• Before drinking, designate a sober, non drinking driver.
• If you’re impaired, take a taxi, call a sober friend or family member or use public transportation.
• If you happen to see a drunk driver on the road, don’t hesitate to report drunk drivers and call 911.
• And remember, Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk. If you know someone who is about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.