ALLENTOWN – Municipal officials in Allentown have made public their support for the 2021 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign which will involve increased impaired driving enforcement from Aug. 20 through Sept. 6.
Mayor Thomas Fritts and members of the Borough Council took two actions during a meeting on Aug. 17 in connection with the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign.
First, Fritts issued a proclamation in support of the initiative, which will be conducted throughout New Jersey.
According to the proclamation, approximately one-third of all fatal crashes in the United States involve impaired drivers; impaired driving crashes killed 10,142 people in the United States in 2019; impaired driving crashes cost the United States almost $44 billion a year; and during the past five years New Jersey’s roads experienced 35,307 crashes and 618 fatalities involving impaired drivers.
According to the proclamation, the effort will involve increased impaired driving enforcement from Aug. 20 through Sept. 6 and borough officials said an increase in impaired driving enforcement and a reduction in impaired driving will save lives on New Jersey’s roads.
Allentown’s officials pledged to increase awareness of the danger of driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs.
In connection with the proclamation, Fritts and the council members announced that Allentown has been provided with funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2021 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Statewide Labor Day Crackdown Grant Fund in the amount of $6,000, which will be inserted into the municipal budget and used to pay for police overtime patrols during the campaign’s enforcement period.
