Drunk Driving Crackdown In Green Brook This Weekend

Green Brook, NJ -- Green Brook Police and patrols through Somerset County are planning increased DUI patrols this Memorial Day weekend.

If you decide to drink know the facts.

A person is guilty of drunk driving if he/she operates a motor vehicle with a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent or greater.

Here are some statistics from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety from 2012:

• 10,322 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes. These alcohol impaired-driving fatalities accounted for 31 percent of the total motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the United States.
• Traffic fatalities in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes increased by 4.6 percent from9,865 in 2011 to 10,322 in 2012.
• Alcohol impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes was almost 4 times higher at night than during the day (35 percent versus 9 percent).
• Thirty percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes on weekends were alcohol-impaired, compared with 15 percent during the weekdays.
• Twenty-one percent of fatalities in motor vehicle traffic crashes involved drivers or motorcycle riders with BACs of .08 or above — an average of one fatality every 51 minutes.
• The percentage of drivers with BACs of .08 or above involved in fatal crashes was highest for motorcycle riders (27 percent), followed by passenger cars (23 percent) and drivers of light trucks (22 percent).
• Twenty-seven percent of the 5,075 motorcycle riders who died in single-vehicle crashes had BACs of .08 or above.
• In fatal crashes in 2012 the highest percentage of drivers with a BAC level of .08 or higher was for drivers ages 21 to 24 (32%), followed by ages 25 to 34 (29%) and 35 to 44 (25%).
• Over 1.2 million drivers were arrested in 2011 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. About one-third of all drivers arrested or convicted of drunk driving are repeat offenders.