Police announce drunk driving crackdown

Nov, 24-2009 2:38 pm

OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City Police Department will be cracking down on drunk drivers as part of the annual “Over the Limit, Under Arrest” statewide campaign. Beginning Dec. 7 through Jan. 3, local and state law enforcement officials will conduct saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints, looking for motorists who may be driving while intoxicated.
A concentrated national effort, the campaign helps to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving through high-visibility enforcement and public education tools, including posters, banners and mobile video display signs. Launched in 1999, the program works to combat drunk driving during some of the busiest travel times of the year.
“This is a critical law enforcement program that can save lives during a time of the year when impaired driving traditionally increases by nearly 10 percent,” said Pam Fischer, director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “The initiative brings attention to not only the serious fines and penalties drunk drivers can face, but the grave danger these motorists pose to all individuals on the road.”
Impaired drivers kill nearly 18,000 people on our nation’s roadways each year. In 2008, 152 people were killed as a result of alcohol-related crashes in New Jersey. That number represents 26 percent of the 590 traffic fatalities reported in the state.