NJ drivers, be prepared for quarantine checkpoints (Opinion)

You haven’t been to any coronavirus ‘hot spot’ states like Florida. You live in New Jersey and you’re only driving into Staten Island to see your cousin. Doesn’t matter. You may be stopped at newly established coronavirus quarantine checkpoints.

Authorities say not to be offended. It’s all random, you see. Instead of going by license plates it’s going by, for example, every twelfth car. They are happening at river crossings between New Jersey and New York. One already done at the Goethals Bridge stopped 47 vehicles in 3 hours. Spokesperson for Mayor Bill DiBlasio, Laura Feyer, said, “The first day was a smaller operation, acting as a ‘pilot’.”

It’s all about educating the public that if you are coming into NYC and have been in a hot spot state you need to quarantine for 14 days. So New Jersey drivers who haven’t been in one of those states won’t need to quarantine but will need to stop and listen to the lecture. These traffic stops take about five minutes according to a story on NJ.com.

Since New Jersey has the same quarantine travel restrictions will we be doing the same traffic checkpoints? No. At least not yet. One of the things New Jersey has done is set up an electronic form to fill out if you are coming into our state from one of those hot spot states. Announcements are made on planes during flights into New Jersey instructing people how to access the form online. I would have guessed very few would be complying. However NJ Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli says about 1,000 travel surveys are being filled out daily.

Is a five minute informational traffic stop too great a price to pay during a pandemic? No. Will people rant and rave about tyranny the same as they have with masks? You bet they will. I’ll be glad when this is all behind us and we can go back to fighting over normal things like does a Central Jersey really exist and whether it’s pork roll or Taylor ham.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.