Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over Campaign Launched

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  NEW JERSEY – The organization Stay Sober Behind the Wheel is preparing to launch its year end “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” Traffic Safety Enforcement Campaign to crackdown on impaired driving.

  The aim of the program is to promote safe travel during the holiday season and Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck and the Division of Highway Traffic Safety are reminding motorists to stay sober behind the wheel during the busy holiday travel season.

 Law enforcement officers throughout the state have already begun stepping up traffic patrols and conducting sobriety checkpoints statewide as part of the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” holiday campaign, which runs through January 1, 2022.

  The Garden State’s crackdown on impaired driving is part of a nationwide effort to reduce traffic fatalities during the holiday season, when statistics show increased potential for crashes. The campaign’s goal is to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving through high-visibility enforcement and increased public education.

   Bruck said, “let me be clear – those who drive while impaired will face serious consequences. 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.”

  Eric Heitmann, the director of the Division of Highway Traffic Safety said, “driving drunk or high, especially during the busy holiday travel season, is selfish, dangerous, and illegal.”

  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, crashes involving drunk drivers accounted for nearly one-third of all traffic crash fatalities nationwide in 2019, claiming the lives of 10,142 that year. Drunk driving fatalities occurred more frequently during the Christmas and New Year’s Day holiday periods that year than during any other holiday period.

  That year in New Jersey, crashes involving drunk drivers accounted for nearly a quarter of all traffic crash fatalities, claiming the lives of 129 people that year.

  To aid with New Jersey’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over enforcement efforts, the Division has provided 106 law enforcement agencies throughout the state with grants totaling $632,520 that pay for saturation patrols and high-visibility sobriety checkpoints during the month-long enforcement effort.

  The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over holiday campaign resulted last year in 590 DUI arrests (alcohol and/or drugs) statewide; and participating police agencies issued 3,121 and 817 summonses for speeding and seat belt violations, respectively.

  For more information, visit NJSafeRoads.com.