Drunken driving crackdown begins Friday: These Central Jersey towns got grants

Kaitlyn Kanzler, MyCentralJersey.com
·2 min read

The state's annual year-end crackdown on impaired driving will begin Friday and run through New Year's Day.

The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign is part of a national push to prevent drivers from getting behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, one person is killed every 52 minutes in a drunken driving crash.

In New Jersey, crashes involving drunken drivers accounted for almost 25% of all traffic deaths in 2019, according to acting Attorney General Andrew Bruck. Fatalities from drunken driving increased during the Christmas and New Year's Day holiday period more than any other time in 2019, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Traffic patrols will be stepped up and there will be sobriety checkpoints established in areas statewide.

Earlier: Drunken driver sentenced to 12 years for crash that killed TCNJ student

"Let me be clear – those who drive while impaired will face serious consequences," Bruck said. "Getting behind the wheel drunk or high puts the driver, their passengers, and the public in jeopardy. Our traffic safety campaign will help everyone to enjoy the holiday season — responsibly."

Over 100 police departments in New Jersey received grant funding totaling $632,520 that help pay for increased patrols and the sobriety checkpoints.

This year's grant recipients in Central Jersey are:

  • Bernards

  • Branchburg

  • Bridgewater

  • Cranford

  • Clinton Township

  • Elizabeth

  • Franklin

  • Frenchtown

  • Hillsborough

  • Holland

  • Lebanon

  • Linden

  • Manville

  • Metuchen

  • Middlesex Borough

  • Monroe

  • Montgomery

  • New Brunswick

  • North Brunswick

  • North Plainfield

  • Old Bridge

  • Peapack-Gladstone

  • Perth Amboy

  • Plainsboro

  • Raritan

  • Roselle

  • Somerset County Sheriff

  • South Bound Brook

  • South Brunswick

  • Tewksbury

  • Union

  • Warren

  • West Amwell

In 2020, the campaign resulted in 590 DUI arrests, and the departments that participated issued 3,121 summons for speeding and 817 summons for seat belt violations.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ annual drunken driving campaign gives towns grants