'Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over' In New Milford: Police

NEW MILFORD, NJ — Make sure you buckle up this holiday season, police will be extra diligent in looking for drunk drivers.

Borough police are participating in the "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign from Friday through Jan. 1, 2019, the police department announced.

Local and state law enforcement officers will conduct sobriety checkpoints and roving patrols, looking for motorists who may be driving while intoxicated. "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" is a national campaign started in 1999 that combats drunk driving during the busy traffic times, including year-end holiday season.

Last year, 20 percent of all motor vehicle fatalities in New Jersey were alcohol-related, the department stated in a news release. Nationally, more than 10,000 people die each year n drunk driving crashes. The societal cost associated with these crashes is estimated to be $37 billion annually.

Police also provided the following safety tips:

• 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.
• 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.

For more information about the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, visit TrafficSafetyMarketing.gov.

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