Sheriff's Department DUI checkpoint. Image via sheriff's office
Sheriff’s Department DUI checkpoint. Image via sheriff’s office

With Halloween parties and trick-or-treating fast approaching, San Diego State University police are gearing up for DUI checkpoints from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday in an effort to curb alcohol-involved accidents.

The department will be conducting checks in the 5100 block of College Avenue to identify offenders and get them off the street, as well as educate the public on the dangers of impaired driving.

Also happening on campus will be the 40th Annual UC San Diego Monster Pumpkin Drop. Students will drop a candy-filled pumpkin weighing around 500 pounds  from the 11th story of Tioga hall, at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. This is one of the largest pumpkins in Muir College’s 40-year Pumpkin Drop history.

The students in the Muir Residents’ Council named the sacrificial fruit “Bruh,” Instagram’s new lingo for “Bro.”  Inside the pumpkin will be an assortment of individually wrapped candy which students scurry to claim. The pumpkin’s “splat” is measured each year. The largest splat in the history of the pumpkin drop occurred in 1995, when a 398-pound pumpkin spewed more than 100 feet.

Before and after the drop will be a Halloween carnival sponsored by Muir College. This is the fourth year Jon Berndes, local grower, has donated the doomed pumpkin to Muir College at UC San Diego.

At SDSU, the DUI/Drivers Safety Checkpoint is an effort to reduce tragedies.

A major component of the checkpoints is to educate the public and increase awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and to encourage sober designated drivers. The SDSU Police Department will be assisted by officers from the San Diego Police Department, as well as officers from several other cities within the county working in partnership under the “Avoid” grant.

The national Drunk Driving over the Limit, Under Arrest crackdown is led by NHTSA and combines high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness through advertising and publicity. Funding for this operation is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the San Diego County Avoid DUI enforcement grant.