WESTERN NEW YORK – New York State Police and local law enforcement will be stepping up patrols to combat drunk and impaired driving this Memorial Day weekend.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this week that the STOP-DWI enforcement period starts on Friday, May 24 and runs through Monday, May 27.
“As state police and local law enforcement step up their efforts to crack down on impaired and reckless driving this weekend, I am urging all motorists to drive responsibly, don’t get behind the wheel if you have been drinking, and plan ahead for a sober ride home,” said Cuomo.
Officials report Memorial Day is one of the busiest travel holidays of the year. In 2018, troopers arrested 237 people for drinking and driving, issued 13,318 total tickets, and investigated 154 personal injury crashes, which resulted in eight fatalities.
In addition to the New York State Police, numerous counties and agencies throughout the state also participated in last year’s Memorial Day Crackdown.
According to the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research at the University at Albany, drunk driving killed 252 people and injured 5,647 others in New York State during 2017. Another 205 people were killed in drug-related crashes.
Drivers can expect to see sobriety checkpoints and increased patrols by state police and local law enforcement agencies during this holiday weekend.
Troopers will be using both marked state police vehicles and concealed identity traffic enforcement (CITE) vehicles as part of this crackdown in order to more easily identify motorists who are violating the law.
CITE vehicles allow troopers to better observe driving violations. These vehicles blend in with every day traffic but are unmistakable as emergency vehicles once the emergency lighting is activated.
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