From Aug. 18 to Sept. 4, Lambertville police issued 65 citations, including three for drunken driving.
By: Linda Seida
LAMBERTVILLE Despite the lack of a grant to finance extra patrols and checkpoints, the Lambertville Police Department continued to keep a sharp eye out for drunken and impaired drivers over a recent two-week period that included Labor Day.
From Aug. 18 to Sept. 4, police issued 65 citations and made three arrests for DUI. The citations included moving violations, speeding and equipment failure, among other infractions.
During a similar two-week period in 2005, the number of citations issued was 109 with 15 arrests for drunken driving.
The lower number of DUI arrests compared to the same period in 2005 does not mean the number of impaired drivers is down, according to Police Director Bruce Cocuzza.
The difference between last year and this year stems from funding. In 2005, the department received a grant that enabled officers to man four checkpoints and extra patrols. No such grant came through this year for Lambertville police.
"It’s always great when we get these grants to supplement what we do," Mr. Cocuzza said. "The way it stood, we were unable to do that."
Police still routinely make arrests for drunken driving.
"This is just a continuous problem," Mr. Cocuzza said. "our job is to capture them before it results in tragedies."
Lambertville police made 35 arrests for drunken driving in 2004. The number increased to more than 70 in 2005. In 2006, the department is on pace to make a similar number of arrests for drunken driving, Mr. Cocuzza said.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, an alcohol-related traffic death occurs every 31 minutes, and an alcohol-related traffic injury occurs every two minutes.
Those figures line up with statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2004, 16,694 people were killed in alcohol-related accidents, which translates to an average of one death almost every 30 minutes. That’s an increase over 2003. That year, 17,105 people were killed because of drunken driving.
In New Jersey, of the 748 traffic deaths that occurred in 2005, 263 were alcohol-related, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.