The New York State Police and Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) announced today that 106,509 tickets were issued statewide, as part of the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over traffic enforcement period over the Christmas and New Year’s Day holiday. The initiative, which targeted impaired and reckless drivers, began on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, and ended Monday, January 1, 2024.
The total statewide numbers are as follows:
| Violation | Number of Tickets |
|---|---|
| Impaired Driving | 3,030 |
| Distracted Driving | 1,027 |
| Move Over Law | 597 |
| Other Violations | 78,685 |
| Seatbelt | 2,537 |
| Speeding | 20,633 |
| Grand Total | 106,509 |
These traffic enforcement campaigns are funded by the GTSC, which promotes and supports participation of law enforcement agencies at the state, county and local levels in high-visibility enforcement efforts. Grant funding is intended to provide for supplemental traffic enforcement and engagement during those times of the year, like the holidays, when there is greater potential for drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs to be on the road.
State Troopers arrested 510 people for DWI and investigated 3,210 accidents, which resulted in 420 people being injured and five fatalities.
Throughout the enforcement, State Police utilized sobriety checkpoints, additional DWI patrols, and ticketed distracted drivers who used handheld electronic devices. Troopers also 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 were violating the law. These vehicles blend in with everyday traffic but are unmistakable as emergency vehicles once the emergency lighting is activated.
As part of the enforcement, Troopers also targeted speeding and aggressive drivers across the state. Below is a sampling of the total tickets that were issued.
Speeding 12,453
Distracted Driving 1,050
Seatbelt violations 1,128
Move Over Law 343
During last year’s National DWI Crackdown, the State Police issued 32,934 total tickets and arrested 453 people for DWI.
The State Police results of the campaign broken down by Troop:
| Troop | Region | Speed | DWI Arrests(# of persons) | Distracted Driving | Child Restraint/Seat Belt | Move Over | TotalTickets(includes other violations) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Western NY | 1,237 | 36 | 118 | 124 | 18 | 3,728 |
| B | North Country | 998 | 33 | 36 | 89 | 58 | 3,551 |
| C | Southern Tier | 1,077 | 37 | 57 | 60 | 24 | 2,784 |
| D | Central NY | 1,105 | 50 | 117 | 102 | 24 | 3,891 |
| E | Finger Lakes | 1,205 | 41 | 70 | 183 | 15 | 4,221 |
| F | Upper Hudson Valley | 497 | 43 | 43 | 84 | 15 | 1,780 |
| G | Capital Region | 650 | 41 | 45 | 23 | 25 | 1,819 |
| K | Lower Hudson Valley | 2,146 | 103 | 112 | 97 | 68 | 5,037 |
| L | Long Island | 763 | 80 | 178 | 110 | 10 | 2,989 |
| NYC | New York City | 332 | 14 | 91 | 76 | 1 | 2,078 |
| T | NYS Thruway | 4,443 | 32 | 183 | 180 | 85 | 5,544 |
All WNY is made possible thanks to coffee and sleep deprivation.
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