'Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over' Has Begun In Barnegat

BARNEGAT, NJ - You've been warned.

Barnegat Township will be ramping up efforts to find drivers who have had too much to drink or taken drugs as part of the annual, year-end "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" statewide campaign, according to a post on the police department's Facebook page.

The campaign began on Dec. 8 and will run through New Year's Day. Expect increased saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints throughout Barnegat and throughout New Jersey.

“During the last five years New Jersey has experienced nearly 40,000 alcohol involved crashes resulting in more than 750 fatalities," Barnegat Lt. Jeffrey Ryan said. “This is a critical law enforcement program that can save lives during a time of the year when impaired driving traditionally increases by nearly 10 percent.”

Twenty percent of all New Jersey motor vehicle fatalities in 2016 were alcohol-related. Nationally, more than 10,000 people die each year in drunk driving crashes at a cost of $37 billion annually.

Here's some advice for the holiday season:

- Take mass transit, a taxicab, or ask a sober friend to drive you home.
- Spend the night where the activity or party is held.
- If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact law enforcement. Your actions may save someone’s life, and inaction could cost a life.
- Always buckle-up, every ride. It’s your best defense against an impaired driver.
- If you are 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.
- Be responsible. If someone you know is drinking, do not let that person get behind the wheel.

Image: National Highway Safety and Traffic Administration