Editorial | They'll be watching you Tues, Apr. 15, 2006 By MADD Since 1980, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other advocacy groups have campaigned to reduce alcohol-related highway fatalities by nearly 40 percent. But nobody should think this progress is enough. Each year in Pennsylvania, more than 600 people still die in drunken-driving crashes. In New Jersey in 2004, 270 people were killed by drinking and driving; in Delaware, 51. Nationally, about 17,000 people are still dying every year in alcohol-related accidents. On Thursday, MADD is kicking off a campaign in Philadelphia to make drivers aware that police will conduct random sobriety checkpoints in the coming days. These searches are legal in all three states of this region. They have consequences, including stiff fines and the loss of driving privileges. The best way to avoid getting caught in one is not to get behind the wheel after you've been drinking. Police officers usually don't enjoy this job. They don't enjoy putting up with abusive, inebriated, impatient drivers. But neither do they enjoy putting themselves at risk on the road with drunken drivers, or notifying next of kin that a family member was killed in a crash. If you do find yourself delayed at a checkpoint in the next few weeks, try to remember that the police are performing a task that is, unfortunately, still necessary. Give the police a break. The other thing you can do, besides not drinking and driving, is to wear safety belts. It's the best protection in a DUI crash. In 2004, among the drunken drivers killed who were under 21 years old, 74 percent were unrestrained. These reminders, and sobriety checkpoints, are still necessary because last year there were more than 1.4 million arrests for drunken driving in the United States. If you drink and drive in the next few weeks, here's hoping you get caught, too.