Police to step up holiday weekend enforcement
May 24—Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday announced that state police, along with local and county law enforcement officers statewide, will increase patrols to combat alcohol and drug-impaired driving and reckless driving throughout Memorial Day weekend. The STOP-DWI enforcement period started at 6 p.m. Friday, May 24, and will run through 11 p.m. Monday, May 27, 2024. "Memorial Day is one of the busiest travel holidays of the year and police will be out in force to remove impaired and reckless drivers from our highways." a media release from Hochul's office said.
"Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of the summer driving season, and we want to ensure everyone gets where they are going safely," Hochul said. "I urge all motorists to drive responsibly and don't get behind the wheel if you've been drinking. Impaired driving is not tolerated in New York State."
To help ease travel during the busy holiday weekend, temporary lane closures for road and bridge construction projects on New York state highways were suspended beginning 6 a.m. Friday and will remain so until 6 a.m. Tuesday, May 28.
Drivers can expect to see sobriety checkpoints and increased patrols by state police along with local and county law enforcement agencies during the holiday weekend. Troopers will be using both marked and unmarked vehicles as part of this crackdown.
On Memorial Day weekend in 2023, troopers arrested 194 people for driving while impaired, issued 13,471 total tickets, and investigated 839 crashes, with no fatal crashes reported. In addition to the New York State Police, numerous counties and agencies throughout the state also participated in last year's Memorial Day crackdown.
