Media Contact:Veronica Marshall
Public Information Officer,
Traffic Safety Outreach Coordinator
Veronica.Marshall@Delaware.Gov

Plan to Arrive Alive this Halloween

OHS increases DUI patrols October 29 – 31, 2021

[DOVER, Del.] October 27, 2021 — Spooky season is here. And while some people of all ages celebrate a good scare – the Halloween holiday can present a real danger.

In Delaware:

• In 2020, there were 16 DUI-related crashes and 3 people were injured over the Halloween weekend.
• In 2019, there were 14 DUI-related crashes over the Halloween holiday weekend, resulting in 2 injuries.
• In 2018, there were 13 DUI-related crashes and 5 injuries.
• 31% of all deadly crashes involve alcohol.

Nationally:

• In 2019, 21 vehicle occupants and four pedestrians were killed in drunk driving crashes on Halloween night.
• Adults between the ages of 21 and 34 had the highest percentage (62%) of fatalities in drunk-driving crashes on Halloween night in 2019.
• From 2015 to 2019, 126 people were killed in drunk driving crashes on Halloween night.
• According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), from 2015 to 2019, 41% of all people killed in motor vehicle crashes on Halloween night were in crashes involving a drunk driver.
  

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What we’re doing

The Office of Highway Safety encourages everyone to start the party right – with a plan.

“We want our community to have a fun night out on Halloween, but to also stay safe and make responsible choices. You should never put yourself, or others, at risk because you made the choice to drink and drive. Plan your safe ride home before you start the party,” says Kimberly Chesser, Director, Delaware Office of Highway Safety. “Drivers should also keep an eye out for pedestrians — whether they be children trick-or-treating or adults who have had too much to drink. Walking while intoxicated can also be deadly.”

To help people stay safe this Halloween weekend, the Delaware Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is also teaming up with nearly 30 law enforcement agencies statewide to help remind drivers of the dangers of drunk driving. The extra DUI enforcement begins Friday, October 29th and runs through Sunday, October 31st.

Celebrate with a plan

It is never okay to drink and drive – so if you plan to drink, plan ahead for a sober driver to take you home. Even if you’ve had only one alcoholic beverage, designate a sober driver or plan to use public transportation or a ride service to get home safely.

If you’re hosting a party where alcohol will be served, make sure all guests leave with a sober driver. And if it’s your turn to be the designated driver – take that role seriously and do not consume alcohol.

If you see an impaired driver on the road – contact local law enforcement. Your actions could help save someone’s life.

About the Delaware Office of Highway Safety

The Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is committed to improving the safety of Delaware’s motoring public by focusing on behavioral traffic safety issues, such as impaired driving, seat belt use, speeding, child passenger safety, pedestrian and bicycle safety, motorcycle safety, and teen driving issues. Follow OHS on ArriveAliveDE.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

High Visibility Enforcement Against Impaired Driving Scheduled for
March 11-21 in Maryland and Delaware Along US 13 and US 113

DOVER, DE (March 12, 2021) – This year St. Patrick’s Day may look a little different as Delaware continues to stress social distancing and COVID-19 precautions. But for those planning to celebrate with family and friends, the Delaware Office of Highway Safety, Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s (MDOT MVA) Highway Safety Office, and local law enforcement want to make sure they stay safe by driving sober or making a plan for a sober ride home.

For the fourth year, more than 20 transportation and law enforcement agencies from Delaware and Maryland will conduct saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints along the 145 miles of US 13 (Ocean Highway) and nearly 75 miles of US 113 (Worcester Highway) on the Delmarva Peninsula beginning Thursday, March 11, and continuing through Sunday, March 21. St. Patrick’s Day is Wednesday, March 17.

In Delaware, the Office of Highway Safety (OHS) will also partner with additional agencies statewide for this year’s high visibility enforcement focused along the US 13 corridor. Last year during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday period, a total of 102 arrests for impaired driving were made statewide in Delaware.

Coinciding with high-visibility enforcement efforts, Delaware’s Office of Highway Safety will share the Be Driven Not to Drive campaign through a variety of platforms throughout the state including billboards, English and Spanish print media, social media platforms, music streaming services, and television/online streaming services. The campaign combines visible tactics with a publicity strategy to educate the public and promote safe driving behaviors in compliance with the law.

“Partnering with Maryland allows our efforts to be amplified as we combat impaired driving during this holiday period,” said Delaware OHS Deputy Director Richard Klepner. “OHS will partner with law enforcement throughout Delaware with increased visibility and presence on our roadways. There’s no excuse to drink and drive. Even one can be too many. Plan ahead to have a sober ride.”

In anticipation of the St. Patrick’s Day DUI enforcement and campaign initiatives, OHS has launched a first-of-its-kind digital tool called the Arrive Alive DE Visualizer DUI-Involved Crash Tool to share information with Delawareans and visitors on crash locations and educate website visitors to drive sober. Housed on the Arrive Alive DE website, this 5-year snapshot of DUI-involved crashes shows the concentration of crashes across the state through an interactive heat map.

In addition to the Arrive Alive DE Visualizer DUI-Involved Crash Tool, OHS has launched other versions of the digital tool for occupant protection and pedestrian safety. The Arrive Alive DE Visualizer is designed to educate drivers and pedestrians to help save lives in Delaware and Arrive Alive to their destination. Visit ArriveAliveDE.com to explore this digital tool and more on highway safety education in Delaware.

“Impaired driving is never the right choice so if you do plan to go out, be sure to plan ahead for a sober ride home,” said MDOT MVA Administrator Chrissy Nizer, who also serves as Governor Larry Hogan’s Highway Safety Representative. “Every year, families lose loved ones to impaired driving crashes. It’s up to each of us to prevent these tragedies from occurring.”

In 2019, 535 people were killed on Maryland’s roadways and one-third of those deaths involved someone impaired by alcohol, drugs, or both. During last year’s enforcement effort, participating agencies issued 703 citations in Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester counties – including 205 for speeding – and made 18 arrests for impaired driving.

To coincide with the high visibility enforcement, the MDOT MVA’s Highway Safety Office will also share Be the Make A Plan Driver and Be the Sober Driver messages on a variety of social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

Additional information on Maryland’s Be the Driver campaign can be found here.

More information on Delaware’s Be Driven Not to Drive campaign is available here.

About the Delaware Office of Highway Safety
The Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is committed to improving the safety of Delaware’s motoring public by focusing on behavioral traffic safety issues, such as impaired driving, seat belt use, speeding, child passenger safety, pedestrian and bicycle safety, motorcycle safety, and teen driving issues. Follow the Delaware Office of Highway Safety on ArriveAliveDE.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

About the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA) Highway Safety Office 

Learn more about the MDOT MVA’s Highway Safety Office at ZeroDeathsMD.gov or on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @ZeroDeathsMD.

CONTACT:

Cynthia Cavett, Delaware Office of Highway Safety, Cynthia.Cavett@delaware.gov

Whitney Nichels, MDOT MVA, wnichels@mdot.maryland.gov

Three drivers arrested for driving while impaired and nine individuals arrested on drug-related charges

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Cynthia Cavett, Marketing Specialist II & Public Information Officer
Delaware Office of Highway Safety
Cynthia.Cavett@delaware.gov
302-744-2740

Dover, Del. (December 16, 2019) – The Delaware Office of Highway Safety coordinated DUI checkpoints in each county statewide this past weekend as part of the Safe Family Holiday DUI enforcement campaign, and the results are in. Three individuals were arrested for driving while impaired, and one person was apprehended on an outstanding warrant. Nine individuals were arrested on drug-related charges, and 18 drivers were detained for further investigation. In addition, 38 drivers were cited for other traffic arrests including four drivers for driving without being buckled up.

A total of 60 officers from the Delaware State Police and local law enforcement agencies manned the three checkpoints and saw a total of 2,522 cars pass-through.

DUI Checkpoints are placed in locations based on crash statistics and frequency of DUI arrests

“OHS will continue Safe Family Holiday DUI Patrols throughout December and the New Year in our ongoing commitment to removing impaired drivers off of our streets and highways, ultimately lowering the risk for deaths and injuries due to driving while intoxicated from drugs or alcohol,” – Richard Klepner, Deputy Director, Delaware Office of Highway Safety. 

To date, there have been 4,015 DUI arrests throughout the state of Delaware since January 1st and *24 confirmed DUI fatal crashes.

The Office of Highway Safety is grateful to the Delaware State Police, local law enforcement agencies, and safety partners who manned the Safe Family Holiday DUI checkpoints. Operation Checkpoint Strikeforce is a collaborate enforcement and campaign throughout the year that is made possible through the cooperative efforts with our safety partners.

You can follow the Delaware Office of Highway Safety by visiting:
Delaware Office of Highway Safety Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Operation Checkpoint StrikeForce Activated this weekend in conjunction with the Safe Family Holiday DUI Enforcement Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Cynthia Cavett, Marketing Specialist II & Public Information Officer
Delaware Office of Highway Safety
Cynthia.Cavett@delaware.gov
302-744-2740

Dover, Del. (December 13, 2019) – The Delaware Office of Highway Safety is coordinating Operation Checkpoint Strikeforce in each county statewide this weekend as part of the Safe Family Holiday DUI enforcement campaign, which is ongoing throughout the state this holiday season.

On Saturday, December 14, 2019, Delaware State Police and local law enforcement will be conducting DUI checkpoints in all three counties from 10 PM into Sunday, December 15, 2019, at 2 AM, as follows:

NCC – Limestone Road, Wilmington
KC – US 13, Dover
SC – SR 54, Fenwick Island

So far in 2019, there are 20 confirmed DUI fatalities (note: this number is not final as there are crashes still under investigation for impairment).

“Our office wants to reinforce the need to plan ahead during this busy time of year. If you are joining your coworkers for a holiday party after work, or meeting family at a restaurant for your holiday festivities, and plan to drink, make sure you have a sober ride home and arrive alive,” said Delaware Office of Highway Safety Director, Kimberly Chesser. “There is no excuse for driving impaired. Give your loved ones the gift of you this holiday season and make sure you get home safely.”

In addition to the Safe Family Holiday DUI Checkpoints, OHS wants to remind the public of best practices for a safe night on the roads this holiday season:

• If you plan to drink, designate a sober driver or plan to use public transportation or a ride service to get home safely.
• Find a safe ride statewide from the OHS Safe Ride resource link https://www.arrivealivede.com/Drive-Sober/Safe-Rides#wilmington.
• If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact local law enforcement, when safe to do so.
• Have a friend who is about to drink and drive? Take the keys away and make arrangements to get your friend home safely. They’re worth it.

For more information on the consequences of driving impaired, visit https://www.arrivealivede.com/Drive-Sober/Consequences.

You can follow the Delaware Office of Highway Safety:
Delaware Office of Highway Safety Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Dover –  A total of 83 people were arrested statewide last week for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of alcohol and/or drugs. Of those 83 individuals, eleven (11) were arrested at DUI checkpoints conducted by the New Castle County DUI Task Force. Police officers also made 5 drug arrests, apprehended 3 wanted persons, and made 37 other traffic arrests.  Statewide, there have been 2,333 DUI arrests made in Delaware this year.

DUI checkpoints continue and are scheduled for:

Saturday August 8 – Stanton – (New Castle County DUI Taskforce)

Checkpoint Strikeforce is a regional sobriety checkpoint campaign aimed at arresting DUI offenders by using high visibility enforcement to deter those who would otherwise choose to drink and drive.  The campaign is a six month long effort coordinated locally by the Delaware Office of Highway Safety and involves setting up weekly DUI checkpoints & patrols statewide.  Delaware had 4,086 DUI arrests statewide for 2014.

For a list of DUI checkpoints in your area text CHECKPOINT to 99000 or for a list of cabs text TAXI to 99000.  More information and resources on Checkpoint Strikeforce can be found at www.ohs.delaware.gov, www.ArrriveAliveDE.com. Follow regular campaign updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DEHighwaySafe, Facebook www.facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE, and subscribe to YouTube channel DelawareOHS.