DWI Checkpoint In Ocean County This Weekend: Prosecutor

BRICK, NJ — Ocean County law enforcement will have a special DWI/traffic checkpoint on Route 35 in Brick Township this weekend, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato announced Friday.

The goal of the checkpoint and extra law enforcement is to slow drivers down and encourage responsible driving along Route 35, the prosecutor's office said. Route 35 not only has a significant increase in motor vehicle traffic during the summer, it has a great deal of pedestrian traffic as well, Coronato's office said.

“It is so very important for drivers along the entire length of the Route 35 beach road to use an extra measure of caution due to the constant summer foot and bike traffic," Coronato said. "Tragedies can only be avoided if drivers slow down and absolutely don’t drive impaired.”

Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said the purpose of checkpoint and traffic detail is to detect, educate, deter, arrest, and vigorously prosecute impaired drivers, while also making Ocean County roads safer for the added pedestrian traffic.

Drunk driving will be targeted, but law enforcement also will be paying close attention to those not yielding to pedestrians and bike traffic, Della Fave said.

The checkpoint program, which is funded in part by the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, will be conducted by local police agencies in conjunction with detectives from the Prosecutor’s Office and Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit focusing on both intoxicated and drug-impaired drivers.

The program is operated/coordinated by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Vehicular Homicide Unit under the direction of Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Michael Weatherstone.

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