City may break its record for drunken driving cases

Police have cited 54 drivers for drunken driving so far this year.

By: Linda Seida
   LAMBERTVILLE — Every week in their press releases, the Lambertville police tell the public about the people they’ve arrested.
   And every week, drunken drivers are always on the list.
   At this time last year, the police had cited 54 drivers who were operating their vehicles while impaired. By the end of 2006, the number rose to 73. That was a record for the city, Police Director Bruce Cocuzza said.
   "I think we’re on par to surpass that number," Mr. Cocuzza said.
   No one wants to break that record. But it appears as if Lambertville will. The number of drunken drivers cited as of Monday is 54, according to Mr. Cocuzza.
   "You do get quite a lot of repeat offenders, which is disturbing," Mr. Cocuzza said.
   The statistics alone should be enough to scare drivers into thinking twice about getting behind the wheel while impaired.
   According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, someone dies every 31 minutes in an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash. An injury occurs every two minutes.
   In 2005, alcohol contributed to 39 percent of all traffic deaths. Drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and other narcotics accounted for 18 percent of driver deaths.
   In monetary terms, alcohol contributes to crashes that cost about $51 billion each year.
   If that’s not enough to scare people, the association says most cases of drunken driving are not detected.
   Lambertville police are trying to bring more awareness to the problem by participating in a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration campaign called Over the Limit, Under Arrest.
   Between Aug. 17 and Sept. 3, police will man DUI checkpoints, and officers will put in about 100 hours of overtime.
   The overtime is being paid for by a $5,000 grant from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety.
   In New Jersey, a person is guilty of drunken driving if he operates a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater. But a person still can be convicted of drunken driving even if the level of alcohol in his bloodstream is less than 0.08 percent, according to the Division of Highway Traffic Safety.
   "If you consume any amount of alcohol, and your driving is affected, you can be convicted of drunk driving," according to the Division of Highway Traffic Safety. "Consuming even small amounts of alcohol dulls the senses, decreases reaction time and hampers judgment, vision and alertness."
   If the blood alcohol level is less than 0.10 percent, the penalties for a first offense can include a fine of between $250 and $400, imprisonment up to 30 days, a three-month license suspension and an auto insurance surcharge of $1,000 a year for three years.
   By the third offense, the fine increases to $1,000. A person also can receive 180 days imprisonment, detainment in an inpatient alcoholism treatment program and an auto insurance surcharge of $1,500 a year for three years.