Holiday Drunk Driving Crackdown Begins Dec. 7

For the final three weeks of 2012, Hackettstown Police will be cracking down on drunk drivers as part of the annual Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, according to a press release.

The program will begin locally Dec. 7 and run through Jan. 2 and law enforcement officials will conduct saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints looking for motorists who may be driving while intoxicated.

Launched in 1999 nationally, the program works to combat drunk driving during some of the busiest travel times of the year, the release said. Last year in New Jersey, 152 people were killed as a result of alcohol-impaired crashes. That number makes up 24-percent of the 627 traffic fatalities reported in the state in 2011, the release said.

Law enforcement agencies participating in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over 2012 Year End Crackdown offer the following advice:

• Take mass transit, a taxicab, or ask a sober friend to drive you home.
• Spend the night where the activity is held.
• Report impaired drivers to law enforcement. In New Jersey, drivers may dial #77 on their cell phones to report a drunk driver.
• Always buckle-up, every ride.  It’s your best defense against an impaired driver.
• If you’re intoxicated and traveling on foot, the safest way to get home is to take a cab or have a sober friend or family member drive or escort you to your doorstep.