With the end of summer approaching, the Office of the Attorney General and the Division of Highway Traffic Safety (HTS) today announced the launch of enhanced enforcement efforts to combat impaired driving in New Jersey.

the Lakewood and Jackson Police Department are among 99 law enforcement agencies throughout New Jersey receiving funding from HTS which will be used to conduct saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints and take alcohol and drug impaired drivers off the roadways.

The “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, which begins today and runs through September 4, is part of a nationwide effort to reduce crash risks and raise awareness about impaired driving during the final stretch of the summer season.

To assist with New Jersey’s enforcement efforts, HTS has awarded $616,770 in grant funding to 99 police agencies across the state to fund enhanced patrols and high-visibility sobriety checkpoints during this busy and dangerous time.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) most recent data, 13,384 individuals died in drunk-driving crashes in 2021, equivalent to one life lost every 39 minutes. Shockingly, an average of 11,000 fatalities occurred annually from 2017 to 2021 due to drunk driving.

During the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign in 2022, law enforcement agencies were active in enforcing traffic laws; they made a total of 169 impaired driving arrests and issued 348 seatbelt tickets, 240 distracted driving tickets, and 804 speeding tickets.

Additionally, they wrote 609 other summonses for hazardous moving violations.

Choosing to drive while impaired recklessly gambles with the safety of the driver, passengers, and members of the public. The repercussions for doing so are grave, and could include substantial fines of up to $10,000, and civil and criminal responsibility for injuries, crashes, and other damage to people or property.