5 Hudson Municipalities Participating In Drunk Driving Crackdown This Holiday Season

Bayonne, Union City, Harrison, Secaucus and North Bergen are the Hudson County municipalities participating in this year’s drunk driving crackdown.

The local police departments have received funding for their effort.  $10,500 is going to North Bergen; $8,750 was awarded to Union City, with the other three towns getting $7,000 each.

Earlier today, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety announced the kickoff of the annual “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” Year-End Holiday Campaign, which runs through January 1st.

The campaign is aimed at reducing the potential for fatal and serious accidents on New Jersey roads by heightening awareness about impaired driving.  During 2022, 69 people died in crashes involving an impaired driver between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.

Platkin said the additional funds “will bolster enforcement efforts from our law enforcement partners to make our roads safer, safeguard families, and ensure everyone gets to celebrate the holidays surrounded by their loved ones.”  The money will be used so police can conduct saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints.

Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller stated, “This is a critical law enforcement program that can save lives, especially in light of recent dramatic increases in motor vehicle fatality rates both nationally and in New Jersey.”

Nationally, 11,654 people died in 2020 in drunk driving crashes. The societal cost associated with these crashes is estimated to be $44 billion annually. 

132 police departments across New Jersey are sharing slightly more than $795,000 in grant funding announced today.