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One of Greta Gerwig's many Barbies. Weird Barbie, Barbie as an '80s roller girl - or perhaps a Ken accompanying a Barbie.
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Oppenheimer. The perfect, simple costume if you've had enough of all that pink.
- Wednesday Addams. Again, another antidote to pink.
Might not be easy to decide what to be, but it is easy to decide what not to be: Drunk, driving around, on Halloween.
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0177/6214/files/anigif_sub-buzz-2896-1669827057-27_480x480.gif?v=1698218274)
Here we go.
The Stats: Halloween Drinking, Driving & Fatalities
- On Halloween night, between 2017 and 2021, there were a total of 159 fatalities caused by drunk driving - up from 126 between 2015 and 2019, with an average of 25 people dying each year.
- Last year, a survey of 1,000 Americans found that adults aged 20-24 drink the most of any age group on Halloween. Women had three drinks on average, while men had four - and were more likely to have blacked out.
- To put that into perspective: In 2021, 55% of drunk driving victims who died on Halloween were aged 21-34. That year, 17 pedestrians were also killed.
- Speaking of pedestrians: Trick-or-treaters under 18 are three times more likely to be killed by a car on Halloween than any other time of the year, while kids from ages 4 to 8 are 10 times more likely.
See this chart, using data from the National Highway Traffic Administration and compiled by Vox:
To compare this with the rest of the year:
- Every day, as of 2023, 37 people in the US die as a result of drunk driving incidents - one death every 39 minutes.
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31% of all traffic-related fatalities are directly caused by alcohol.
- More than 10,000 Americans die each year in drunk driving incidents (1,000 of them children).
Luckily, it's not all a nightmare.
(or a pool of piranhas)
Despite the frankly frightening figures above, there is some positive data coming out - showing a reduction in drinking and an increase in responsible behavior.
So, here are three bits of good news - and three (easy) things you can do to make your Halloween safer.
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Halloween celebrants are going zero-proof. During Halloween and Dia de los Muertos in 2022, sales of non-alcoholic spirits rose by a whopping 71.5% and non-alcoholic beer sales jumped by 28.4%, according to data from Nielsen.
Try a fall-themed alcohol-free aperitif, like the warming sumac and chili mix from Ghia.
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Cities are increasingly going car-free for Halloween. Avoid drunk drivers by avoiding cars altogether, and opting for a vehicle-free street. New York City, for example, is continuing its relatively new "Trick or Streets" initiative: blocking off cars from 100 streets from 4-8 pm.
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Sales of personal breathalyzers are rising. Particularly around boozy holidays like Halloween. (Take it from us: We're a breathalyzer company).
People are using BACtrack's police-grade breathalyzers to test themselves, friends, and family members - and verify that they're actually ok to drive home.
Now, you're probably thinking that toting around a breathalyzer seems... extreme. But it's not. BACtrack breathalyzers are discreet, chic, and can fit anywhere: your pocket, your purse, your kid's Jack-o-lantern bucket, anywhere.
And we like to think they go with any costume.
Check out the BACtrack C6, the BACtrack C8, and BACtrack S80 below.
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But if you do become a drunk witch - make sure you're not a driving one.