DWI Adds Hazard To Motorists. Drunk driving only adds to the hazards posed to motorists on the already dangerous roadways that course through Long Island.
And over Memorial Day weekend, one of the busier travel holidays during the calendar year, those risks are magnified. This year proved no different. Authorities on Long Island announced this week that they made 136 arrests for DWI (driving while intoxicated) charges between Friday afternoon and Monday morning, according to a New York Newsday report.
Most of the arrests happened in Suffolk County, where police made 50 arrests over the holiday weekend. Add to that figure an additional 36 arrests by police departments in Nassau County and 33 more between sheriff’s deputies and state police and it adds up to a particularly dangerous weekend on some already treacherous roadways. Police in Southampton nabbed 17 more drunk drivers over Memorial Day, Newsday reports.
Dangers Posed To Motorists On Long Island
We regularly report on the dangers posed to motorists on Long Island, which has some of the most dangerous roads in the U.S. The Southern State Parkway that runs through Long Island is of particular note: One 10-mile pass on the parkway has been dubbed “Blood Alley” because of the fatal injuries sustained in vehicle accidents that happen on it.
During the Memorial Day weekend, several accidents were reported on Long Island roads. The New Hyde Park Patch.com site reports that one vehicle overturned and hit two parked cars there on Sunday night. The accident resulted in injuries to the driver and blocked traffic on two roads.
In another incident, a car made a wrong turn and ended up stuck on a rail line. The car had to be removed and the mishap resulted in halted train service into the New Hyde Park station. Patch.com does not indicate whether any charges are pending against the drivers in these two incidents.
Despite enforcement efforts over the weekend, including a multijurisdictional taskforce on Saturday, the rate of DWI arrests on Long Island was at least on par with the total accounted for last year. Several agencies that were tapped to gather this year’s total were not tallied last year, Newsday adds in its report. In 2012, police in Suffolk County made 52 DWI arrests, about the same as this year.
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