Office of The Attorney General
- Stuart Rabner, Attorney General
Division of Highway Traffic Safety
- Roberto Rodriguez, Director

Trenton – Police departments will beef up their patrols and conduct DWI checkpoints during one of the most dangerous and deadly periods of the year for traffic crashes, the Division of Highway Traffic Safety announced today. The year-end law enforcement crackdown starts today and will run through January 2.

The division has issued $5,000 enforcement grants to 54 police departments in Bergen, Essex, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, Ocean, and Somerset counties.

Last year, 263, or 35 percent, of motor vehicle fatalities in New Jersey were alcohol-related. On the national level, nearly 17,000 people lost their lives in alcohol-related crashes in 2005, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Tougher enforcement is supported by 97 percent of Americans who view drunk driving as a serious threat to themselves and others, according to a NHTSA survey.

“Alcohol-related crash fatalities have been slowly declining in the Garden State according to NHTSA, from 285 in 2001 to 263 in 2005,” said Roberto Rodriguez, Director of the Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “But even one fatality is one too many. This crackdown is designed to lessen alcohol-related deaths with high visibility enforcement right through the New Year’s holiday weekend.”

“People forget the dangers of drinking and driving unless they are constantly faced with the consequences,” said Colonel Joseph R. Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “Even a couple of alcoholic drinks at a holiday party are enough to slow a driver’s reaction speed down, and maybe enough to put them over the legal limit. The penalties are too severe to take that risk.”

The Division of Highway Traffic Safety offers the following tips for motorists during the holiday season:

• If you’re planning to drink, choose a designated driver
• If a designated driver is not available, plan to spend the night where the activity is being held
• Report impaired drivers by using #77. Provide the location and a brief description of the vehicle
• Always buckle up. It’s your best defense against an impaired driver

List of Grantees 

• Bergen County:
  • Bogota  PD
  • E.Rutherford PD
  • Emerson PD
  • Fort Lee PD
  • Garfield PD Hackensack PD
  • Hillsdale PD 
  • Leonia PD
  • Lodi PD                                                         
  • Northvale PD
  • Palisades Interstate
  • Parkway                             
  • Ridgefield Park PD     
  • Ridgewood PD 
  • Waldwick PD
  • Westwood PD
    
• Essex County: 
  • Bloomfield PD
  • Caldwell PD     
  • Cedar Grove PD  
  • Essex Fells PD 
  • Maplewood PD 
  • Montclair PD
  • Nutley PD  
  • South Orange PD   
  • West Caldwell PD
  • West Orange PD
    
• Mercer County:
  • Ewing PD
  • Hamilton Twp PD                 
  • Hopewell Twp PD   
  • Lawrence Twp PD   
  • Princeton Twp PD                                                    
  • Trenton PD
  • Washington Twp PD
  • West Windsor PD
  • Lodi PD                                                         
  • Northvale PD
    
• Middlesex County:
  • Sayreville PD
  • Ridgefield Park PD
    
• Monmouth County:
  • Asbury Park PD                                           
  • Belmar PD                            
  • Eatontown PD                                              
  • Freehold Twp PD
  • Holmdel PD
  • Lake Como PD
  • Manalapan Twp PD
  • Marlboro Twp PD
  • Middletown Twp PD
  • Neptune Twp PD
  • Ocean Twp PD
  • Oceanport PD
  • Old Bridge Twp PD
  • Red Bank PD
  • Wall Twp PD
  • West Long Branch PD
  • Manasquan Boro PD
  • Aberdeen PD
• Ocean County:
  • Lacey Twp PD
• Somerset County:
  • Franklin Twp PD

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