STOP-DWI

STOP-DWI (Special Traffic Options Program for Driving While Intoxicated) is a locally enforced program to increase accountability for drunk driving. The core components of the program are enforcement, prosecution, mandatory minimum fines, license loss for chemical test refusals, and education/public awareness. The Broome County STOP-DWI Program funds police patrols dedicated to DWI enforcement, specialized breath testing equipment and video cameras, funds to hire a prosecutor to specialize in DWI cases, and a position to deal with recidivist DWI offenders.

The program produces print and electronic media campaigns, training seminars for professionals who deal with aspects of drunk driving, and works with local school SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving) chapters to conduct outreach programs. STOP-DWI uses the popularity of sports to promote a healthy lifestyle message by sponsoring a high school boys basketball tournament, girl’s softball tournament, a bicycle race, and a 5K run/walk. The program is supported entirely by fines paid by people convicted of driving while intoxicated and monthly supervision fees paid by people serving a probation sentence as a result of their conviction.

The goal of the Broome County STOP-DWI comprehensive DWI countermeasure program is to improve highway safety by preventing drunk driving through increased certainty of arrest and conviction.

The Broome County STOP-DWI program is successfully combating drunk driving. The number of fatalities on Broome County roadways due to drunk driving has decreased from an annual average of 13 people in the 1980’s, to 5 people annually in the 1990’s, to 3 fatalities per year in the 2000’s. In 2007 Broome County saw a 45% decrease from the 1990’s annual average in alcohol related personal injury crashes (69 compared to 125) and a 52% decrease in injuries from alcohol related crashes (80 people compared to 168). In 2008 STOP-DWI funded patrol activities made 193 DWI arrests and issued 2,044 vehicle and traffic tickets. The Broome County District Attorney’s Office has one of the top conviction rates for drunk driving offenses in New York State.