TRENTON
– State officials today urged drivers,
passengers, pedestrians and revelers alike
to exercise caution if they planned to drink
during their New Year’s Eve celebrations
this weekend.
Division
of Highway Traffic Safety Acting Director
Gary Poedubicky said if you planned to drink
on New Year’s Eve there were some
simple steps to follow to ensure you make
it home from celebrating safe and sound.
“Plan
to go out with a designated driver or take
mass transit or a taxi,” Poedubicky
said. “If you can, spend the night,
rather than getting behind the wheel. If
you drink and plan to walk home, have a
friend or family member escort you home.”
Poedubicky
and Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control
Director Jerry Fischer both noted the importance
of having a designated driver if you drink.
Both divisions have partnered with the HERO
Campaign, which has become a national model
for preventing drunk driving by encouraging
individuals to become designated drivers.
HERO
Campaign founder William Elliott, whose
son Navy Ensign John Elliott was killed
by a drunk driver in 2000, said his goal
was to have everyone plan to bring a designated
driver with them when they planned to drink.
“The
whole point of the HERO Campaign is to use
designated drivers and promote safe and
sober drivers. We want to make sure you
have a safe ride home and a safe ride means
a ride from someone who has not been drinking,”
Elliott said. “Our campaign came from
a tragedy in our lives. I know our son would
have wanted us to have something good come
out of this tragedy and have lives saved
because of what happened to him.”
Poedubicky
said local law enforcement agencies will
be on the roads this weekend continuing
to crack down on drunk drivers as part of
the state’s “Drive Sober or
Get Pulled Over” mobilization. The
campaign has provided federal grants of
$5,000 to 98 law enforcement agencies throughout
the state to implement the impaired driving
enforcement initiative. Officers will be
conducting saturation patrols and sobriety
checkpoints, looking for motorists who may
be driving while intoxicated. In the corresponding
winter campaign of 2010, the crackdowns
resulted in 2,115 Driving While Intoxicated
arrests.
Division
of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Director
Jerry Fischer added that under the state’s
alcoholic beverage control laws, liquor
licensees cannot serve or sell alcohol to
any person actually or apparently intoxicated
in a licensed premises.
“On
New Year’s Eve, and throughout the
year, liquor licensees must remain cognizant
to the amount of alcohol patrons consume,”
ABC Director Fischer said. “By remaining
vigilant, bars and restaurants can not only
ensure responsible service to patrons, but
also help in our mutual efforts to prevent
drunk driving and the potentially serious
consequences that can result from the over-consumption
of alcohol.”
There
were two motor vehicle fatalities last year
during the New Year’s Eve holiday
period (Dec. 30 to Jan 3.) and alcohol was
a factor in both. One of those fatalities
was a pedestrian killed in Winslow Township
and Poedubicky said pedestrian deaths have
become a growing concern in light of recent
holiday statistics. During the Thanksgiving
(Nov. 23 to Nov. 28) and Christmas (Dec.
23 to Dec. 27) holiday periods this year
there were 14 motor vehicle fatalities –
10 of those were pedestrians.
The
Division of Highway Traffic Safety offers
the following road safety tips to keep pedestrians
safe on New Year’s Eve:
For
Pedestrians:
