Kids and adults alike have come to adore Halloween. While kids are focused mostly on candy, however, adults tend to congregate for parties — and parties often involve alcohol.
This Halloween, whether you’re going to a costume party with friends or just plan on having a few drinks with dinner — get a ride home. You could save a life and save yourself from manslaughter charges.
Halloween has become synonymous with drunk driving fatalities
Despite all the ad campaigns, public service announcements and hefty fines, some people still haven’t gotten the message that drinking and driving — any drinking — can be dangerous. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicates that 42% of traffic fatalities on Halloween night between 2013 and 2017 involved a drunk driver.
It’s important to remember that you don’t have to be over the legal blood alcohol limit to be considered intoxicated for the purposes of a drunk driving charge. Any alcohol in your system can lead to charges — particularly if you’re involved in a crash.
If you cause a collision after you’ve been drinking and someone dies, you can also be charged with vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, which is a Class D felony — and that means significant time in prison.
You can bet that the police will be out in droves on Halloween night, looking for any sign of impaired drivers, so do yourself a favor: Don’t be among them. Even a simple drunk driving charge has the potential to seriously disrupt your life and negatively affect your future.
If you do make a mistake, however, take immediate steps to protect your interests. Invoke your right to remain silent until you can consider all the potential defenses to your drunk driving charges.
