The Ames Police Department will implement a “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” enforcement effort this Halloween to crack down on drunk driving.

Geoff Huff, public information officer and investigations commander for Ames police, said there will be extra officers all across the city of Ames who will specifically be looking for behaviors that signal someone is “buzzed” or drunk driving.

Huff said these signs include running red lights or stop signs, weaving outside their lane and stopping at green lights or not going when a red light turns green.

Emily Belloma, freshman in open option, said she supports the enforcement effort for Thursday night.

“I think it’s pretty necessary,” Belloma said. “I know a lot of stuff is going down, and I’m really against drunk driving. I just think it’s a stupid thing; it’s easily avoidable.”

Belloma, who said she personally knows people who have driven while under the influence of alcohol was shocked to hear that from 2007-11, 52 percent of all national fatalities occurring on Halloween night involved a drunk driver, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“That’s just way too big a number,” Huff said.

Huff said taking preventative measures to ensure the citizens of Ames, including children who may be swarming the sidewalk, are safe is the main reason Ames police are cracking down on drunk driving.

“The big thing that we are trying to get across is plan early,” Huff said. “If you’re going to go out and you’re going to drink, either make sure you’ve got a way to get home that’s safe whether you can walk home or whatever, or get a sober driver.”

He also wanted to remind celebrators that a designated driver is “someone who does not drink at all, not just whoever drank the least.”

Huff said about 10 percent of people on the roadways on any given Friday or Saturday night are impaired. When factoring in that Halloween falls on a Thursday, which many ISU students recognize as “Mug Night,” there could be an even higher percentage of impaired drivers on the roads.

Belloma said she agreed: “I think it’s going to be crazier definitely just because it’s Thursday, it’s ‘Mug Night.’ Everyone’s going to be out and about.”

Huff said there are many alternatives to drunk driving including CyRide, taxi services in Ames or a designated driver. He said an easy way to prevent yourself from drunk driving is to simply not drive to wherever you’re going in the first place.

“I think a lot of the folks that go to Campustown walk, so that’s great,” Huff said. “If you plan on going to Campustown or downtown or wherever there’s a bar to drink, don’t drive there. … We do get complaints occasionally from people who drive either downtown or to Campustown and they start drinking and decide they don’t want to drive and they make the right choice. They leave their car there and then they get mad because they get a parking ticket.”

He said having a better plan is essential.

Drunk drivers who do get pulled over will be held in the Story County Jail, usually overnight. Most people are released the next morning after seeing a judge. Huff said drivers also face legal fees which could be thousands of dollars if they decide to contest their charge.

Many drunk drivers often forget that insurance fees that double or triple because of an OWI can be one of the biggest financial consequences, Huff said. He also mention that young males, statistically speaking, are particularly at risk of being involved in a traffic crash as a result of “buzzed” or drunk driving.

If convicted, drivers under the influence will lose their license for an undetermined amount of time.

“We’re going to be out there. We’re going to be looking for it. We hope we’re bored, that’s great,” Huff said.