Colorado State Patrol Urges Sober Rides This Halloween After 50 DUI Arrests During 2025 Holiday

Description: Colorado State Patrol urges drivers to plan sober rides for Halloween 2026 after reporting 50 DUI arrests during the holiday in 2025. Read the full Press release from Colorado State Patrol Public Affairs Office...

Witch-ing You a Happy Halloween

Troopers want you to plan ahead for a sober ride

(COLORADO)—Kids aren’t the only ones who enjoy Halloween. Any Colorado State trooper can share stories about adults who enjoy celebrating this holiday, sometimes too much. And with Halloween conveniently falling on a weekend this year, troopers are offering a word of friendly advice: if a Halloween party or evening out is in your weekend plans, take a moment now to arrange a sober ride home.

In 2025, 241 people in Colorado died as a result of impaired driving. The Colorado State Patrol also arrested 3,844 drivers for driving while intoxicated. The peak holiday for DUI arrests in 2025 was Halloween, when troopers took 50 impaired drivers off Colorado roadways.

“Drunk drivers come in all shapes and sizes,” stated Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. “October was a busy month for our Troopers last year for some very depressing reasons. No one needs the nightmare of losing a friend or loved one; every driver can make a responsible choice.”

Long after the holiday is over, a driver arrested for DUI will face the consequences of a conviction. Some of the consequences of a first-time DUI in Colorado include a license suspension of nine months, alcohol education/treatment and an ignition interlock device up to nine months after you are allowed to drive again legally.

“An ignition interlock device is not discreet, and many passengers likely won’t be comfortable getting into a vehicle with someone who has one,” explains Col. Packard. “These devices aren’t meant to embarrass the driver; they’re about safety. Impaired drivers account for 30% of all traffic deaths in Colorado, and this device stands in the way of someone making that horrible choice twice.”

In addition to a no-tolerance approach to enforcing DUI laws, the Colorado State Patrol is highlighting the consequences an average Colorado driver faces after a DUI arrest as part of its “DUI Lasts Longer Than…” campaign during the holiday season (October 1 through New Year’s Day). Don’t Underestimate Impairment. Making a good decision “in the moment” while already intoxicated is unlikely. Don’t underestimate the consequences of this choice, and plan ahead for a sober ride.

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