Sheriff increases patrols for holiday drivers

Dec 24, 2014 at 01:40 am by Observer-Review


Sheriff increases patrols for holiday drivers ADVERTISEMENT

Sheriff increases patrols for holiday drivers

YATES COUNTY--While the holiday season is a time for celebration, for some, it can also be a season of overindulgence. In order to safeguard area roads, Yates County Sheriff Ron Spike said his deputies will be on the lookout for drunk drivers during the holidays.
"We budget for overtime for additional patrols during the holiday period and the days before and after holidays, especially Christmas and New Years," Spike said. "We anticipate scheduling a sobriety checkpoint at some point at a couple places in the county. That is the extra effort we make."
According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), a driving while intoxicated (DWI) charge requires a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 or higher. A driving while ability impaired (DWAI) requires a BAC of more than 0.05 but less than 0.07. An aggravated DWI charge has a BAC of 0.18 or higher.
Spike said it is becoming more frequent when someone they pull over is under the influence of drugs instead of alcohol.
"We are particularly concerned with driving under the influence of drugs as well as alcohol," Spike said. "Our arrests, especially this fall, have increased with individuals driving under the influence impaired by drugs. Those numbers have been disproportionate to what they have been in the past, and we are seeing an increase in that type of activity."
Spike said he is also working on setting up two billboards during the holidays -- one in Dundee and one in Penn Yan -- to address driving under the influence of drugs. He said in October alone his department made four arrests for driving while ability is impaired by drugs, adding he has never had a month where they made that many drugged driving arrests as it is usually alcohol related. Spike said if someone is pulled over under suspicion of DWI, they will be asked to take a sobriety test.
"We pretty much have a zero tolerance for driving while intoxicated," Spike said. "If you are over those legal limits then you are going to be requested to take a test. That could be a roadside test or a roadside alcohol sensor that you blow in."
Upon being pulled over, a driver has the option to consent to the sobriety test, but can also refuse the test. However, Spike said while someone does have the right to refuse a sobriety test, it can result in an arrest and revocation of a license for at least one year.
According to the DMV website, a DWI violation includes a mandatory fine of $1,000 to $2,500 and a license suspension of at least one year with a maximum jail term of one year. A second violation within 10 years revokes the license for at least 18 months, a mandatory fine of $1,000 to $5,000 and a maximum jail term of four years. A third arrest within 10 years increases the maximum jail term to seven years with a fine of $2,000 to $10,000. A DWAI revokes the license for at least six months, a maximum jail term of one year and a $500 to $1,000 fine.
"It all depends on your driving behavior," Spike said. "We have to have some probable cause to pull you over. [...] Quite frankly a lot of individuals we have pulled over for driving while intoxicated have failed to dim their headlights as one violation, or moving out of lane unsafely, weaving and that type of thing. Unsafe turns or sometimes driving too fast, those are the types of violations that have come to a police officer's attention on patrol that causes someone to stop to see if they are all right or why they are driving the way they are driving. [...] We want to prevent someone else from getting hurt."

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