Police: Too much Halloween fun

Police: Too much Halloween fun

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Story Published: Nov 2, 2009 at 9:28 AM PST

By KATU.com Staff and News Wires

PORTLAND, Ore. - It was a busier Halloween night for Oregon State Police troopers patrolling the state's stretch of highways.

Compared to Halloween night 2008, troopers more than doubled the number of "Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants" arrests in the 12-hour period from 6 p.m., Oct. 31, to 6 a.m. Nov. 1.

OSP troopers were involved in a statewide and national cooperative law enforcement campaign "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest." The campaign started Oct. 25 and ran through Halloween night. 

This year, during the 12-hour period, state troopers reported 31 DUII arrests.  There were 15 DUII arrests in 2008.

State police units reporting more than two DUII arrests during the 12-hour period were:

  • Springfield at 10 arrests
  • Portland and Tualatin at six arrests
  • The Dalles at four arrests
  • Salem at three arrests
  • Central Point at three arrests
  • Albany at two arrests
  • La Grande at two arrests.

"Halloween is a particularly deadly night due to impaired drivers," according to a press release sent to KATU Sunday by the Oregon State Police.

According to the Oregon Department of Transportation's "Fatality Analysis Reporting System" data, there have been 10 fatalities on Halloween night - over the past decade - that involved alcohol or drugs and traffic crashes. However, those DUII-related crashes make up 90 percent of the past decade's Halloween-night deaths.

(ODOT's electronic reader boards were programmed to read "Drive Sober. Save lives this Halloween" in many areas of the state Saturday night.)

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 58 percent of all highway fatalities across the nation on Halloween night in in 2008 involved a driver or a motorcycle rider with a Blood Alcohol Concentration of .08 or higher, which is illegal in every state.

An Oregon State Patrol spokesperson tells KATU that its troopers were not called to any fatal traffic crashes overnight.

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