The official start to summer is not very far off, but drivers traveling in vicinity of South Brunswick should be aware that township police will be on higher alert for drunk drivers and those operating in an impaired state this weekend. According to news reports, roving patrols and sobriety checkpoints (aka DWI or drunk driving roadblocks) will be conducted in various parts of the township. As New Jersey DWI-DUI defense lawyers, our advice is to avoid any alcohol, take public transportation home from parties or other gatherings, or enlist the services of a designated sober driver.
Drivers coming from other areas and traveling through the South Brunswick area will likely be seeing evidence of increased traffic enforcement as the weekend continues. In fact, this is just the beginning of a usually more frequent and greater level of police activity, if only because the summer official begins in just a couple weeks. Being long-time drunken driving defense lawyers, my colleague and I know that Garden State roadways will be packed with vacationers, as well as police, each weekend as the summer progresses.
As with any enhanced enforcement period, the chances of being stopped for one of any number of minor traffic offenses is higher than the slower times of the year. And while police officers by law are not allowed to stop a motorist simply on a hunch that he or she may be intoxicated or otherwise impaired by alcohol or a controlled dangerous substance (CDS), there have been instances in the past where the state’s case has been thrown out, or the charges reduced, simply because a patrolman did not follow proper procedures when making a traffic stop that eventually led to a DWI or drug DUI.
Over in South Brunswick, the local police have reportedly teamed up with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office in an effort to catch, and/or deter drunk drivers from traveling the local roadways this weekend. In addition to sobriety checkpoints, roving police patrols will be looking for any kind of impaired driving in an effort to stop and arrest potentially inebriated motorists or those individuals who may be impaired by legal or illegal drugs.
South Brunswick police conduct roving patrols, checkpoints for drunken drivers; NJ.com; June 7, 2014