Fatal drunk driving accidents have torn apart the lives of countless families in Delaware in recent years. Our firm has represented some of these families in wrongful death lawsuits, so we understand the toll these horrible accidents have.
Unfortunately, over the past two years there have been five alcohol-related fatal car accidents in the Newark area. Local law enforcement hopes to curb the tragic trend by kicking drunk driving enforcement into high gear.
Newark Police Department officers will be spending more time looking for impaired drivers, and even the Street Crimes Unit and Special Operations Unit will spend some of their time on DUI enforcement efforts.
Currently, DUI checkpoints are conducted about every other month in the area and are commissioned by the Delaware Office of Highway Safety. The local police department does not conduct its own checkpoints, the Newark Post Online reported.
The NPD is admittedly short-staffed right now because of recent promotions and retirements, but a spokesman said DUI arrests in 2015 are already outpacing the arrests made last year. Reportedly, there were 216 DUI arrests made throughout 2014.
The police chief said he hopes to see an overall decline in car accidents with the use of high visibility teams of officers. What happens is a group of four or so officers are stationed in specific areas issuing speeding tickets to send a message to drivers.
Hopefully, the NPD is able to reduce the number of drunk driving fatalities so that fewer families have to go through the pain and hardship caused by losing a loved one in a fatal accident.
