The New York State Police will increase patrols to combat drunk, impaired and reckless driving throughout this Memorial Day weekend. The STOP-DWI enforcement period starts on Friday, May 22, and runs through Tuesday, May 26. State Police and our local law enforcement partners will be out in force to remove impaired and reckless drivers from our highways.

State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett said, "As we take time this Memorial Day to honor those who died in service to our county, we remind motorists to make safety the top priority. If your holiday plans include alcohol, please arrange for a safe ride home. Driving impaired is a choice that often has serious and even deadly consequences. State Troopers will be highly visible this weekend, and will have zero tolerance for impaired, reckless and distracted drivers."

Drivers can expect to see sobriety checkpoints and increased patrols during this holiday weekend. Troopers will be using 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. These vehicles blend in with every day traffic but are unmistakable as emergency vehicles once the emergency lighting is activated.

On Memorial Day weekend in 2019, Troopers across the state arrested 225 people for drinking and driving, issued 13,693 total tickets, and investigated 134 personal injury crashes, which resulted in four fatalities.