Crime & Safety

DWI Checkpoint in Town for St. Patrick's Day

Police will be out looking for drunken drivers Thursday night into Friday morning.

If you plan on celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a few green beers or pints of Guinness, make sure you have a designated driver.

Police will conduct a sobriety checkpoint in the township Thursday night into Friday morning as part of the New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police "St. Patrick's 2011 Impaired Driving Prevention" campaign. 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data shows that 37 percent of the drivers and motorcyclists involved in fatal crashes on St. Patrick's Day 2009 had a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent (New Jersey's legal limit) or higher.

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A total of 103 people were killed in St. Patrick's Day 2009 crashes, with 47 of them victims of accidents caused by drunken driving, according to NHTSA.

Township Police offer the following easy tips on how to celebrate a safe St. Patrick's Day:

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• Plan a safe way home before festivities begin;

• Before drinking, designate a sober driver and leave your car keys at home;

• If you’re impaired, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation so you are sure to get home safely;

• If you happen to see a drunken driver on the road, don’t hesitate to contact local law enforcement;

• Remember, if you know someone who is about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.

Police have coordinated the checkpoint with assistance from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, which is also assisting Pennsauken Police with a checkpoint.

Authorities are not revealing the checkpoint locations in advance.


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