Department arrested 6 individuals for drunk driving during Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign
The Gloucester Township Police Department (GTPD) recently partnered with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Labor Day Weekend drunk-driving enforcement campaign.
From Aug. 17 to Sept. 3, GTPD showed zero tolerance for impaired driving, arresting six offenders for driving while intoxicated. Additionally, 82 drivers were issued summonses for driving with a suspended driver’s license and 38 drivers were cited for careless, reckless or otherwise unsafe driving behavior.
Over the 2016 Labor Day holiday period, there were 433 crash fatalities nationwide. Of the fatal crashes, more than one-third (36%) involved drivers who were drunk (.08+ blood alcohol concentration [BAC]), and one-fourth (25%) involved drivers who were driving with a BAC almost twice the legal limit (.15+ BAC).
Among the drivers between the ages of 18 and 34 who were killed in crashes over the Labor Day holiday period in 2016, 47 percent of those fatalities involved drunk drivers with BACs of .08 or higher.
The “Drive Sober or get Pulled Over” campaign partnership with the NHTSA is just one facet of the GTPD efforts to deter drinking and driving. The department also conducts monthly coordinated patrols targeting intoxicated drivers, pre-prom drinking and driving education programs for high school students.
The GTPD would like to remind all residents that it is never OK to drink and drive. Always have a plan to have a designated driver if you plan to drink.
If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact local law enforcement. Have a friend who is about to drink and drive? Take the keys away and make arrangements to get your friend home safely.
For additional information on the dangers of drinking and driving and on the designated driver program, visit http://www.nj.gov/oag/hts/index.html and http://www.madd.org
