Police in New York are gearing up for Super Bowl weekend and the rise in impaired driving with STOP DWI New York

“This is a substantially big weekend for impaired driving,” said Russell Haag, the Clinton County STOP DWI coordinator. “We’re going to be doing our checkpoints, we’re going to have more officers out on the road, they’re just going to be high saturation points to try and keep these impaired drivers off the road to reduce fatalities or injuries.”

The campaign runs February 10th-13th, not just Super Bowl Sunday, and is one of several times the state runs this campaign when people are likely to gather in large groups, like the 4th of July or Labor Day Weekend. Haag said the goal of the high visibility campaign is to prevent people from driving impaired and making sure they have a sober ride home.

Haag said there are many consequences for driving while intoxicated. “To the high extreme a consequence could be killing somebody, or killing yourself during the time you made that poor choice.” he said. “Below that you’re looking at the fines, possible jail time, and possibly community service hours.”

Haag said he believes the STOP DWI campaign is highly successful because officers at checkpoints are seeing more and more designated drivers and they are able to catch those who do not make the right choice. Haag also encourages people to have a “sober plan” and a safe ride home can always be found by downloading the STOP DWI mobile app called “Have a Plan”.