The New York State Police issued 48,877 tickets and arrested 783 people for impaired driving over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday, as part of the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over traffic enforcement period, the department said this week.
The initiative, which targeted impaired and reckless drivers, began on Thursday, Dec. 13,, and ended Jan.1. State Police also investigated 643 personal injury crashes, which resulted in eight fatalities.
During the 2017 holiday campaign, Troopers issued 43,094 total tickets and arrested 667 motorists for impaired driving.
As part of the enforcement, State Police increased patrols and conducted sobriety checkpoints to deter, identify and arrest impaired drivers. Troopers also targeted speeding and aggressive drivers across the state. Here is a sampling of the other tickets that were issued.
Speeding 16,169
Distracted Driving 9,573
Seatbelt violations 1,223
Move Over Law 437
Troopers used 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 the Trooper 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.
The 19-day campaign was funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.
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