N.Y. City Crackdown on Drunk Driving Yields 11% More Arrests

More drivers in New York City who dared to get on the road while intoxicated last year found themselves in trouble with the law.

Nearly 10,000 people were arrested in New York City for driving while intoxicated, the Daily News reported this week. That was an 11 percent increase, the newspaper reported. The data on DWI arrests came from the New York Police Department.

Arrests increased in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, around Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and in Morrisania, Bronx.

The police are continuing to ramp up their efforts to deter drunk drivers this holiday season.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said DWI checkpoints will go up across the city. “The department’s DWI initiatives will help reduce accidents and increase the safety of all New Yorkers,” Kelly said.

Twenty-two people were killed in DWI-related accidents as of Dec. 22, compared with 27 last year at the same time.

There were 16,885 crash fatalities involving alcohol nationwide in 2005, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In New York, 524 of the 1,429 car accident fatalities — or about 37 percent — were related to alcohol.

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Information from: Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com