Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Ramps Up County-Wide Drunk Driving Enforcement

Drunk drivers beware.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office is again teaming up with the Sheriff's Department and officers from local police departments to get as many drunk drivers off the road as possible.

“The tremendous added volume of summer shore traffic and all our area high schools hosting senior roms calls for increased vigilance by law enforcement, and that will be the focus over the coming months to keep motorists safe," Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said.

The program consists of staging numerous checkpoints throughout Ocean County by regionalizing and supplementing local DWI enforcement, he said.

Each checkpoint will also have two drug recognition experts to ferret out those under the influence of narcotics, he said.

"Each year impaired drivers are responsible for about a third of the deaths occurring on Ocean County roadways," Coronato said. "Last year Ocean County had 38 fatalities on our roadways. Though our county has moved from second highest in the state for fatalities from a year ago, to now ranking fifth out of the 21 counties there is no cause for celebration. Even one fatality is too many."

The checkpoint program is funded in part by the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety.

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