Prom Season Means DWI Checkpoints This Weekend

Time to go the prom? Yes. Time for more DWI checkpoints? Definitely.

Law enforcement agencies said they plan to have DWI checkpoints set up around Pennsylvania and New Jersey this weekend as the state gears up for prom season.

Lower Merion police will be especially on the lookout for drivers under the influence this coming weekend as part of a national initiative to crack down on DUIs, the department has announced.

From Friday, May 8 through Sunday, May 10, Lower Merion Township Police will conduct impaired driving checkpoints combined with roving patrols in the township.

The campaign is in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” efforts to combat reckless driving in local communities.

A sobriety checkpoint is a highly visible, systematic method for stopping vehicles at a selected location to determine whether motorists are operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 381 people died in alcohol-related crashes in 2013, equaling 32 percent of total traffic deaths.

The sobriety checkpoint is being funded by a PennDOT grant and is one of many tools utilized to increase public safety through increased awareness created by high profile enforcement.

In New Jersey, police plan to conduct a DWI checkpoint in Tinton Falls from 11 p.m. Friday until 3 a.m. Saturday, according to the Asbury Park Press.

The Monmouth County DWI Task Force and local police will stop vehicles on Hope Road south and direct them into the Centre Plaza parking lot, according to the newspaper.

Ocean County, N.J. Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato, meanwhile, has announced that his department will bring back its annual countywide DWI checkpoint program.

The program consists of staging numerous checkpoints throughout Ocean County at undisclosed locations.

“The start of prom season and the added volume of summer shore traffic calls for increased vigilance by law enforcement, and that will be the focus over the coming months to keep motorists safe,” Coronato said in a statement.

The program targets also utilizes an addition of two “Drug Recognition Experts” at each checkpoint to detect those under the influence of narcotics, Coronato said.

The checkpoint program, which is funded in part by the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, will be conducted by local police agencies in conjunction with detectives from the Prosecutor’s Office and Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit.