DUI crackdown starts today

From today through Labor Day, Sept. 7, law enforcement agencies through the country will be cracking down on driving under the influence as part of a campaign titled "Over the Limit, Under Arrest."

Hundreds of municipalities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey will be taking part, stepping up patrols and even manning sobriety checkpoints.

Underage drinking and driving will get special attention, as students head back to colleges and some high schools start football season, according to a PennDOT news release.

Last year, 45 people died in Pennsylvania in alcohol-related accidents involving drivers under 21, and underage drinking played a role in more than 1,400 accidents last year, the agency said.

Even a blood-alcohol level of .02 percent is enough to justify arresting a driver under 21 in Pennsylvania, since such drivers don't need to be legally drunk to have violated the law. A level of .08 is the state's legal standard for being impaired.

Underage drinkers don't even have to be driving when they're caught to get their licences suspended in Pennsylvania, PennDOT said.

New Jersey and Delaware will be cracking down, too, and so will the Delaware River Port Authority, which patrols the four bridges that connect Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The crackdown was organized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.