*News
Release* Date:
April 16, 2009
Middlesex
County Prosecutor’s Office
DWI checkpoints are established for a safe prom
and graduation season
Members of various municipal police
departments in the county, and investigators from the Middlesex County
Prosecutor’s Fatal Crash Investigations Unit, will be randomly stationed at
locations throughout the county to check for impaired drivers.
The program, now in its 24th
year, seeks to educate teenagers about the dangers of impaired driving and
encourages them to drive soberly.
‘’The purpose of the checkpoints is
to remove intoxicated drivers from the road; educate people to the dangers of
drinking and driving; deter drivers from getting behind the wheel of their
vehicles after having consumed alcohol or drugs, and the overall goal is to
ensure that proms and graduation celebrants arrive safely,’’ said Middlesex
County Assistant Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch, who supervises the checkpoints.
He called the program a success,
noting that since its inception, police have never found an impaired teenage
driver at any of the prom and graduation checkpoints.
Additionally, Sewitch said, there
have been no motor vehicle fatalities or injuries among teens in
Sewitch said education has been the
key to deterring students from driving impaired.
When motorists are stopped at the
checkpoints, they are handed pamphlets outlining the consequences of impaired
driving and are told that first-time offenders could lose their driving privileges
for at least seven months and face a variety of fines, insurance surcharges and
legal fees that could total as much as $15,000.
In addition, the Middlesex Out-Reach
and Education (MORE) program, established by Prosecutor Kaplan, sends trained
investigators to the schools to talk to students about the hazards of impaired
driving.
Prosecutor Kaplan also sends letters
to students and their parents encouraging them to drive soberly and safely.
While there have been no fatal
crashes involving teenagers during the prom and graduation season, there were
42 fatal crashes in the county last year. Thirteen of those crashes involved
alcohol or drugs and eight of the crashes involved drivers between the ages of
17 and 21.
Nationwide, 28 percent of people
between the ages of 15 and 20 who were killed in motor vehicle crashes had been
drinking.
Prosecutor Kaplan said the statistics
are reason enough to maintain the sobriety checkpoints during the prom and
graduation season.
“When our children drink and drive,
they are at risk to kill or seriously injure themselves and others,’’
Prosecutor Kaplan said. ‘’Hopefully,
this is all the motivation that we need to ensure that we, as parents, act
responsibly when addressing the issue of alcohol use during prom and graduation
season,’’ he said.
“I applaud the work of the Prosecutor
and his staff and the proactive, multi-pronged approach they are taking to
preventing impaired driving and the disastrous results that may follow,” said
Middlesex County Freeholder Mildred S. Scott, chair of the county’s Law and
Public Safety Committee. “The safety of our drivers – the safety of our
children – remains paramount and we must take any and all avenues we can to
prevent tragedy.”
This year’s program has been financed
by a $29,975 grant from the state Office of Highway