The New York State Police arrested 783 people for driving impaired and issued a total of 48,877 tickets throughout the Christmas and New Year’s holiday. The ticketing was part of a bigger initiative, the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over traffic enforcement period, running Dec. 13, 2018 until Jan. 1, 2019. The initiative was funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee
Fewer Arrests for Impaired Driving
The goal of the initiative was to control impaired and reckless drivers. Unfortunately, the 2018 initiative still resulted in more total tickets than the previous year (43,094), though it also resulted in over 100 less impaired driving arrests than those that occurred in 2017 (667). In addition to arrests and ticketing for impaired driving, State Police were also responsible for looking into 643 personal injury crashes, which led to eight fatalities.
Other Tickets Issued
In order to enforce these initiatives, State Police not only increased patrols, but also conducted sobriety checkpoints. Aside from impaired driving and personal injury cases, thousands of other tickets were also issues. These included:
- Speeding (16,169)
- Distracted Driving (9,573)
- Seat belt Violations (1,223)
- Move Over Law (437)
CITE Vehicles Prove Handy
To further ensure that they were able to catch those motorists that were violating the law, State Police also used both marked State Police cars as well as Concealed Identity Traffic Enforcement (CITE) vehicles. The usefulness of the latter vehicles is that they do not stand out from others on the rest of the road, but can clearly be identified as emergency vehicles with their emergency lighting turned on.
So What Happens if You’re Ticketed?
Fines and penalties for traffic violations in New York are left up to the local courts. That means that dependent upon where you are in the state, you could receive a completely different fine. Courts may choose to tack on additional fines or surcharges, which can easily take a ticket fine from $45 to $300. New York State’s point system allows for the DMV to keep record of your violations and therefore further penalize those who continue to commit offenses.
Some minor traffic violations are only two points, while other more serious offenses could leave you with eleven points on your record. If you receive up to eleven points within a year and a half, you could face a license suspension. The same thing can occur if you receive three speeding tickets within a year and a half. Other violations that may result in a license suspension include:
- Conviction for driving while impaired (by either alcohol or drugs);
- Driving without insurance;
- Ignoring a court judgment from an auto accident; and
- Refusing to take a drug/alcohol test during a stop for impairment.
These points on your driving record will stay there for eighteen (18) months. However, if you receive 6 points within any 18-month period, you will receive a New York State drivers responsibility assessment fee in addition to the traffic ticket fines.
Posted in: Traffic Tickets