The New York State Police will conduct a Thanksgiving holiday traffic enforcement period from Wednesday, November 22, through Sunday, November 26, 2017, in an effort to prevent tragedies caused by impaired, distracted, aggressive or reckless driving. During this enforcement period, Troopers will be highly visible, and drivers can expect a number of sobriety checkpoints and additional DWI patrols.
Superintendent George P. Beach II said, “As motorists drive throughout the state to see their family and friends this holiday season, we encourage them to make safe driving practices their priority. Follow posted speed limits, make sure all occupants are buckled up, put down your smartphones and other mobile devices and move over and slow down when you see emergency and highway maintenance vehicles on the side of the road. If you’re celebrating with alcohol, don’t get behind the wheel of a vehicle after drinking. Make arrangements for a safe ride home. Our troopers are committed to ensuring everyone’s safety and by motorists making the right choices, together we can prevent needless tragedies on our roadways.”
The State Police will supplement regular patrols focusing on speed enforcement, impaired driving, underage drinking, and distracted driving. The effort will also incorporate fixed sobriety checkpoints, an underage drinker enforcement and the “Operation Hang Up” initiative, which targets distracted drivers by utilizing Concealed Identity Traffic Enforcement (CITE) patrol vehicles to better locate drivers talking or texting on handheld devices. These unmarked vehicles blend in with everyday traffic but are unmistakable as emergency vehicles once the emergency lighting is activated.
The highest traffic volumes of the year typically occur during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It is also a time when alcohol consumption is widespread. During the 2016 Thanksgiving holiday period, troopers arrested 245 drivers for DWI, issued 5,417 speeding tickets, 673 tickets for distracted driving, and 265 tickets for the move over law.
During the 2016 Thanksgiving holiday traffic enforcement initiative, State Police did not respond to any fatal accidents in New York and they issued a total of 13,751 tickets.