As we recently reported, law enforcement agencies throughout the country are taking part in a DUI crackdown that will run through Labor Day, which is this coming weekend. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s slogan for the campaign is: “Drive Sober, or Get Pulled Over.”
Pennsylvania drivers planning to cross the Delaware River into New York over the holiday weekend should be especially aware as it was reported that the police in Pennsylvania and New York are teaming up for heightened DUI patrol on the border as part of the national DUI campaign’s Border to Border initiative.
The Eastern Pike Regional Police based in Matamoras, Pennsylvania, and the Port Jervis, New York, Police Department, which are both located on the Delaware River, will be on heightened patrol and will be on the lookout for certain issues that are unique to the area.
One of these issues is that bars in New York close later than bars in Pennsylvania, so people looking to extend their night of partying by crossing the border should plan ahead to have a sober driver.
Additionally, “Pennsylvania has seen a lot of people go into New York after the bars close in Pennsylvania, continue to drink and then drive back to Pennsylvania,” a regional DUI coordinator out of Pennsylvania said.
Police officials from both departments said that there will be sobriety checkpoints and roving patrols during the nationwide crackdown that continues through the holiday weekend. But they also said that both departments will continue their efforts to prevent drunk driving long after the national campaign comes to an end.
Source: Mid Hudson News, “NY/PA police team up for border to border DWI patrols,” Aug. 23, 2011.