Over last year’s long Memorial Day weekend, four people died in New Jersey car crashes. Two of the deaths were attributed to alcohol and drugs, authorities say.

That same weekend, state troopers arrested 117 people for driving while intoxicated on the state’s major highways, authorities say.

The annual crackdown begins again today. Police will be everywhere, from local roads to the state’s major highways. And they will be searching high and low for even the slightest infraction, authorities said.

“Do the right thing – because we’re going to be looking,” said Sgt. Brian Polite, a spokesman for the New Jersey State Police. “We all share these roadways.”

About 200 extra state troopers will be on the major thoroughfares, from the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike, to Interstate 80 and Interstate 78, said Polite. They will be watching for anything from drunken-driving to swerving through traffic and tailgating, to texting while driving – even down to unfastened seatbelts, Polite said.

There will be vigilance in patrols from 6 p.m. Friday through Tuesday morning, he added.

In addition to the state police patrols, drunk-driving checkpoints will be set up by local police on smaller roads across the state. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said there will be numerous stops throughout the county, as is usual for the unofficial first weekend of summer. But this year authorities have also added two drug recognition experts at each of the checkpoints, looking for people under the influence of narcotics, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

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In Linden, checkpoints will be set up again throughout the city as part of the “Click it or Ticket” campaign, said Capt. James Sarnicki. During last year’s two-week campaign, they issued 485 seat-belt summonses – 10th in the state – while also arresting 12 drunk drivers and 26 drug offenders, and towing 17 uninsured cars, Sarnicki added.

Road safety is the primary goal of the crackdown, Polite said. And there is reason for optimism this year on New Jersey roads. The year-to-date numbers of fatalities are down 15 percent from 2012, he said. A total of 218 were killed in 206 crashes at this point last year, compared with 185 killed in 177 accidents this year, Polite said. Part of this is accounted for by the decrease in motorcycle fatalities – with 25 in 2012, compared to seven this year, Polite said.

The crackdown is an annual reminder that there are consequences for being irresponsible on the roads – and not all of them are from law enforcement, Polite said.

“Every year we send this message out – but it just boils down to personal responsibility,” Polite said. “You owe it to everyone in your car – and everyone else on the road.”

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