Governor Cuomo Announces State Police Arrest Over 250 People for Impaired Driving Over St. Patrick's Day Weekend

Troopers Issue 13,000 Tickets Statewide During Annual St. Patrick's Day Weekend DWI Crackdown

  Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced that State Police issued 13,038 tickets and arrested 259 people for impaired driving during the St. Patrick's Day weekend impaired driving crackdown. The STOP-DWI initiative started on Friday, March 15 and continued through Monday, March 18, 2019.

"New York has zero tolerance for reckless or impaired driving and St. Patrick's Day weekend is no excuse to engage in illegal behavior," Governor Cuomo said. "These results send a message to drivers that we will continue to aggressively enforce the law to keep our highways safe."

During the 2018 campaign, Troopers issued nearly 12,959 total tickets and arrested 243 motorists for impaired driving.

Acting Superintendent Keith M. Corlett said, "Traffic safety and preventing avoidable tragedies continues to be a top priority for the State Police. Make the smart decision and always make plans for a safe and sober ride home. Together, we can prevent the injuries and deaths associated with impaired driving, and make our roads safer."

During the special enforcement period, which was funded by the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, the New York State Police increased patrols and conducted sobriety checkpoints to deter, identify and arrest impaired drivers.

State Troopers arrested 259 people for DWI and investigated 594 automobile crashes, including 85 crashes that resulted in injuries. There were no fatalities in crashes during the enforcement period.

As part of the enforcement, Troopers also targeted speeding, aggressive and distracted drivers across the State. Below is a sampling of the total tickets that were issued.

Speeding             4,514

Distracted Driving 371

Seatbelt violations 374

Move Over Law 188

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.

Results of the St. Patrick's Day Weekend enforcement period by troop:

Troop	Region	DWI Arrests (# of persons)	Speed	Distracted Driving	Child Restraint/ Seat Belt	Move Over	Total Tickets (includes other violations)
A	Western NY	12	354	28	36	6	1010
B	North Country	11	214	19	18	4	840
C	Southern Tier	13	402	28	26	31	1093
D	Central NY	30	438	45	47	12	1346
E	Finger Lakes	24	425	27	40	6	1215
F	Upper Hudson Valley	50	422	48	44	20	1314
G	Capital Region	39	460	37	43	10	1249
K	Lower Hudson Valley	33	729	24	28	24	1589
L	Long Island	19	276	53	48	8	985
NYC	New York City	0	13	25	7	7	644
T	NYS Thruway	28	781	37	37	60	1753
	TOTALS	259	4514	371	374	188	13038