State Police and local law enforcement will increase patrols across New York from Sunday, Oct. 25, through Halloween to target impaired and reckless driving.
The campaign runs through Saturday, Oct. 31, and includes sobriety checkpoints and additional DWI patrols, according to a news release from Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Officers will also be looking for distracted drivers and people who are speeding.
The Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee is funding the coordinated enforcement effort, which includes resources to target underage drinking and reduce alcohol- and drug-related crashes.
During the 2025 Halloween initiative, officers issued 44,545 citations, including 1,210 for impaired driving and 8,701 for speeding.
State Police Superintendent Steven James urged drivers to avoid drinking and driving and to take extra care around trick-or-treaters and other pedestrians.
Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa, president of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, said children may be dressed in dark clothing or run across roads while going from house to house.
Impaired or aggressive driving can hinder a driver’s ability to react to those situations, he said.
Nationwide, 201 people died in alcohol-related crashes during the Halloween overnight periods from 2019 through 2024, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Halloween data.
Those totals cover 6 p.m. Oct. 31 through 5:59 a.m. Nov. 1 each year and involve at least one driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .01 or higher.
Of those deaths, 176 occurred in crashes involving a drunk driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher.
More than half — 54% — of people ages 21 to 34 killed in traffic crashes over that Halloween period died in drunk-driving crashes, according to the announcement.
Victims in the drunk-driving crashes included 31 pedestrians and 144 drivers and passengers.
A study in JAMA Pediatrics cited by the governor’s office examined U.S. pedestrian fatalities using federal crash data from 1975 through 2016. Published online in 2018, it compared 5 p.m. through 11:59 p.m. on Halloween with the same hours on Oct. 24 and Nov. 7.
The study found a 43% higher pedestrian-fatality risk on Halloween than on those comparison evenings. Among children ages 4 to 8, the pedestrian-fatality risk was 10 times higher.
Researchers recorded 608 pedestrian deaths on the 42 Halloween evenings and 851 on the 84 comparison evenings. Risk was highest around 6 p.m.
Acting state Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Christian Jackstadt urged anyone celebrating with alcohol or drugs to plan a sober ride. Brighton Police Chief David Catholdi, president of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, recommended a designated driver or rideshare.
The Traffic Safety Committee and New York State STOP-DWI Foundation’s “Have a Plan” app is available for Apple and Android smartphones. It lets users find and call a taxi, create a designated-driver list, review DWI laws and penalties, and report a suspected impaired driver.
Other coordinated impaired-driving campaigns are held around the Super Bowl, St. Patrick’s Day, Independence Day, the late-summer period leading into Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and the Christmas and New Year’s period beginning in mid-December.
File photo of New York State Police patrol vehicles.
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