New Jersey DWI Lawyer Blog
Drivers traveling near Lawrence Township in Mercer County this Friday evening should be aware that a drunk driving sobriety roadblock will be operating along Brunswick Pike until the early morning hours of Saturday, August 29. This DWI checkpoint is part of a state and nationwide campaign to identify and arrest individuals operating motor vehicles while under the influence of alcohol.
The initiative, known as “Over the Limit, Under Arrest,” is targeting the roadways of New Jersey in an effort to pick up motorists driving with an illegal amount of alcohol in their system. The entire nationwide campaign is running from August 21 to September 7, through the Labor Day holiday.
As part of this campaign, the Lawrence Township Police Department has received funding through the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. Law enforcement officers will be setting up a checkpoint on Brunswick Pike just south of Franklin Corner Road starting around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, August 28. The DWI roadblock will be in operation until 4 a.m. Saturday.
Drivers stopped at this and other roadblocks throughout the state will be evaluated by a police officer, who may decide to conduct a standardized field sobriety test. If the patrolman has reason to believe a driver is intoxicated, that officer may then request that the motorist undergo a Breathalyzer test to ascertain the individual’s blood alcohol content (BAC).
Our law firm endeavors to alert drivers to the existence of checkpoints such as the one in Lawrence because of the possible incidence of drunk driving in or around that particular locale. New Jersey law states that police and other law enforcement agencies can only set up sobriety roadblocks in areas that have a statistically high percentage of drunk driving arrests.
As a New Jersey drunk driving attorney, I always tell people who have been arrested for DWI or issued a summons for drunk driving or breath test refusal to retain the services of an experienced drunk driving defense lawyer. There is no reason not to protect yourself when you step into the courtroom on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
LAWRENCE: Police to crack down on drunken drivers, CentralJersey.com, August 19, 2009