Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee To Distribute $1.6 Million In Stop-DWI Funds

LongIsland.com

Aid to counties will enhance efforts that reduce the number of DWI crashes, fatalities and tickets.

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Albany, NY - October 20, 2017 - The Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) today announced $1.6 million in funding for local counties to help deter drunken and drugged driving. The funding will enhance New York’s efforts to get impaired drivers off the state’s roadways, which has successfully lowered the number of crashes, fatalities and tickets issued. 
 
“This funding is a welcome addition to our efforts to reduce and eliminate drunken and drugged driving,” said Terri Egan, Executive Deputy Commissioner for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and Acting Chair of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. “It will complement the educational and enforcement campaigns that we do. We also have worked to encourage people to find alternate methods of getting a ride home after an evening out drinking.”
 
This year, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and state lawmakers approved ride-sharing services to operate in upstate New York and on Long Island.
 
“We have also encouraged people who are celebrating to use the Have a Plan app to designate a driver, call a ride or ride share, or to report an intoxicated driver if they see one,” Egan said.
 
New York has seen success in reducing the number of drunk driving crashes, fatalities and arrests.
 
The number of fatal crashes involving alcohol impairment has declined from 330 in 2011 to 247 in 2016, according to the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research (ITSMR). The number of people killed in such crashes dropped from 362 to 272. The number of tickets issued for drunken driving statewide outside of New York City also declined from 68,804 in 2011 to 57,402 in 2015.
 
At the same time, the state has seen the number of tickets issued for drugged driving rise from 4,198 in 2011 to 4,742 in 2016. To combat this growing problem, the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee has been training law enforcement officers to become Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) who can detect people under the influence of drugs. Last month, 22 officers from across the state completed extensive training to become DREs. New York now has 262 certified DREs across the state.
 
The funding is being distributed based on the number of licensed drivers in each county, and will be used to supplement their STOP-DWI campaigns.  The following counties will receive the amounts below:
 
  • $77,500 for the five counties of New York City.
  • $60,000 each: Nassau and Suffolk.
  • $45,000 each: Erie, Monroe and Westchester.
  • $35,000 each: Albany, Dutchess, Onondaga, Orange and Rockland.
  • $27,500 each: Broome, Niagara, Oneida, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Ulster.
  • $22,500 each: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, Ontario, Orleans, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, St. Lawrence, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates.
For more information about DMV, visit dmv.ny.gov, or follow the DMV conversation online on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about GTSC, visit safeny.ny.gov, or follow the GTSC conversation at Facebook and Twitter.