Drivers in Millburn and Livingston should expect sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols on area roads starting Wednesday, Aug. 19, as both police departments join a statewide impaired-driving crackdown running through Labor Day, Sept. 7.

Six Essex County police departments are participating in New Jersey's annual "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign, funded by grants from the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety. The agency awarded more than $511,580 to 106 departments statewide, according to Patch. Millburn Police received $7,000 for overtime enforcement during the three-week window.

Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced the campaign on Tuesday, Aug. 18. "There is never an acceptable reason to drive impaired," Davenport said, urging residents to plan a sober ride home.

The numbers back up the urgency. The 2025 campaign produced 1,612 impaired-driving arrests statewide and nearly 100,000 total summonses, including 6,228 for speeding, 3,192 for seat belt violations and 1,526 for cell phone use. In 2024, 186 people died in alcohol- or drug-impaired crashes in New Jersey, accounting for nearly 27 percent of the state's fatal collisions, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

What drivers should know

Under New Jersey law, police must follow specific protocols at checkpoints: officers stop vehicles according to a predetermined formula (every third or fifth car, for example), use clearly marked cruisers with signs and lighting, and keep stops brief unless they develop reasonable suspicion of impairment. Departments must give advance notice of the campaign but are not required to publish exact checkpoint locations.

The primary goal, according to NHTSA, is deterrence. Checkpoints increase the perceived risk of arrest among the general driving population, not solely to catch impaired motorists in the act.

Livingston's specific grant amount was not listed in available state records.

The enforcement window closes Monday, Sept. 7.