*News
Release* Date: May 26, 2010
Middlesex
County Prosecutor’s Office
DWI checkpoints set for safe prom and graduation
season
Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan announced today
that police have been setting up sobriety checkpoints as part of an annual
program to ensure the safety of high school students during their prom and
graduation ceremonies.
The program, now in its 25th year, has been
operated successfully by members of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Fatal
Crash Investigations Unit and the county’s municipal police departments, who
randomly station checkpoints around the county to check for impaired drivers.
While
there have been numerous arrests for impaired driving over the years, no
students have been killed or injured in crashes or arrested on charges of
driving while intoxicated during the prom and graduation season.
The
results show that students are getting the message that impaired driving is not
only dangerous, but has serious consequences, said Middlesex County Assistant
Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch, who oversees the operation of the sobriety
checkpoints.
First-time
offenders run the risk of losing 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, Sewitch said.
‘’The
purpose of the checkpoints is to remove intoxicated drivers from the street; to
educate the public about the dangers of drinking and driving and drugged
driving, and to deter people from getting behind the wheel after using alcohol
or drugs,’’ Sewitch said.
‘’The overall goal is to promote the safety of
the motoring public and to ensure that our prom and graduation celebrants
arrive home safely,’’ Sewitch said.
‘’Keeping
our children safe is of the utmost importance and I welcome any program that
helps us do that,’’ said Freeholder Mildred S. Scott, chair of the County’s Law
and Public Safety Committee. ‘’I thank the Prosecutor’s Office and all the
members of the municipal police departments for their shared commitment to the
safety of our young residents.’’
Police
began setting up checkpoints on April 24, 2010, and, since then, have checked
motorists in Dunellen,
During
that time, more than 300 motorists were stopped and given pamphlets advising
them of the dangers of impaired driving. In addition, 12 motorists were
arrested on DWI charges, two were arrested on pre-existing criminal charges and
225 summonses were issued for a variety of motor vehicle offenses, such as
being unlicensed or driving unregistered or uninsured vehicles.
The
program, made possible through a $43,000 grant from the New Jersey Division of
Highway and Traffic Safety, will run through the end of June.
In
2009, there were 47 fatal crashes that resulted in 51 deaths in