Law enforcement will have increased DWI patrols for Memorial Day weekend
Courtesy of Orleans County Sheriff’s Office
The New York State Police and law enforcement agencies in Orleans County will increase patrols to combat drunk, impaired and reckless driving throughout this Memorial Day weekend.
The STOP-DWI enforcement period starts on Friday and runs through Tuesday, May 26. State Police and local law enforcement agencies will be out in force to remove impaired and reckless drivers from our highways.
“As we take time this Memorial Day to honor those who died in service to our county, we remind motorists to make safety the top priority,” said State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett. “If your holiday plans include alcohol, please arrange for a safe ride home. Driving impaired is a choice that often has serious and even deadly consequences. State Troopers will be highly visible this weekend, and will have zero tolerance for impaired, reckless and distracted drivers.”
Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke also said local law enforcement will have an increased presence this holiday weekend.
Drivers can expect to see sobriety checkpoints and increased patrols. State 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. These vehicles blend in with every day traffic but are unmistakable as emergency vehicles once the emergency lighting is activated. Troopers will also conduct an underage drinking enforcement detail.
According to the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research (ITSMR) at the University at Albany, drunk driving killed 295 people and injured 5,340 others in New York State during 2018. Another 314 people were killed in drug-related crashes.
On Memorial Day weekend in 2019, Troopers arrested 225 people for drinking and driving, issued 13,693 total tickets, and investigated 134 personal injury crashes, which resulted in four fatalities.
