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Happy Halloween from the Danville Express!
AAA officials remind parents to be vigilant of drunk drivers during Halloween

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While many decided to celebrate Halloween over the weekend, some ghosts, ghouls and goblins will still do their haunting on Wednesday, Oct. 31. If you drink during the festivities, AAA will take you and your car home free of charge.

"Tipsy tow" service will be offered from 6 p.m. on Wednesday through 6 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1.The free, five-mile tow home for drivers who have been drinking is available to all motorists including non-members. Drivers, potential passengers, party hosts, bartenders and restaurant managers can call 800-222-4357 (AAA-HELP) for a free tow home by telling the operator "I need a Tipsy Tow." No reservations are accepted.

Tipsy Tow is a one-way ride for the driver and vehicle to the driver's home. If there are additional passengers who need a ride, they will be taken to the driver's home as long is there is sufficient room in the tow truck.

During 2006, 17,602 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, representing 41 percent of all traffic-related deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Drunk-driving crashes also account for about 36 percent of highway deaths of young people age 16 to 24 each year.

AAA also reminds parents to be extra vigilant of the potential dangers that children face while trick or treating. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, children are four times more likely to be struck by a vehicle on Halloween than on any other day of the year, particularly between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The number of fatalities in vehicle related crashes on Halloween in 2009 increased 16 percent, with 110 fatalities, when compared to the rest of the year, which averaged 92 fatalities per day nationwide. According to data from NHTSA, vehicle fatalities increase when Halloween falls on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

"Combine children walking after dark, candy, vision-compromising costumes, and adult partygoers on the road and you have a recipe for disaster," said AAA Northern California spokesperson Cynthia Harris. "Children are safer the more visible they are. There are many easy and inexpensive ways for parents to make sure that Halloween costumes are both easy for drivers to see at a distance and easy for children to see out of."

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