New York State Police Makes DWI Arrest After Foot Pursuit

New York State Police said in a press release that on November 17, at about 3:45 PM. troopers responded to a two-car crash on I-890 westbound on the exit 9 offramp in Colonie, New York.

New York State Police Makes DWI Arrest After Foot Pursuit 

Troopers say that the investigation determined a commercial vehicle driven by a 59-year-old man from Jersey Village, Texas was traveling the wrong way on the exit 9 offramp when he struck a vehicle exiting I-890 westbound traveling in the right direction.

Police say that the suspect fled the scene on foot following the crash but was located by troopers a short distance away. The suspect was arrested for driving while intoxicated and other vehicle and traffic law violations.

See Also: Woman in New York State Busted Allegedly Driving Nearly 4X Over BAC Limit

He was transported for processing where he recorded a 0.22% BAC, which is over two and a half times over the state's legal BAC limit of 0.08%.

The suspect was issued tickets, released to a sober party, and was due back in court at a later date.  The vehicle struck during this crash was a school bus that contained two children and the driver. No injuries were reported.

Would a Lower BAC Limit in New York State Reduce Fatalities?

Back in October 2023, a Wynantskill, NY man blew a a 0.38% BAC, which is 4.7 times over the state's legal limit, according to New York State Police. Some, such as Scott Wexler, of the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association say the fatal drunk driving crashes are caused by those with much higher BACs, such as this one.

Wexler told WNYT he doesn't feel like a drop to 0.05% would make much of a difference in reducing fatalities.

Others, like Thomas Louizou, a former federal traffic safety official and founder of the .05 Saves Lives Coalition, disagree. Louizou stated that 114 other countries had lower legal limits than the United States. WNYT says that other organizations like the National Transportation Safety Board and Mothers Against Drunk Driving have backed previous attempts to lower the limit.

Numbers from the NTSB posted at Stateline say that in the first year, Utah lowered the drunk driving limit, and traffic deaths were cut by 20%.