If you thought Suffolk County law enforcement’s keen eye for drunken road offenders would slow down after Thanksgiving, you’re sadly mistaken.
New York State Troopers recently reported that 247 people were arrested for impaired driving throughout the state on Thanksgiving Day alone, and 55 across Long Island were for the entire week — with 29 of these coming from Suffolk County.
This troubling barrage of boneheads came even after the heads of local law enforcement joined together to emphatically warn drunken drivers to, frankly put, beware or be jailed.
"There will be tragedies in Suffolk County more than likely,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney predicted ahead of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, known as “Blackout Wednesday.”
The checkpoints put in place to safeguard holiday-bound travelers against such tragic misfortunes will remain through Christmas and New Year’s, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office announced.
And who could blame them? It is high time the spared thus far take a look in the mirror; not in the rearview, but in the mirror of the home or establishment where they have chosen to throw a few back, despite having driven there.
One headline after the next is ample proof: everyone whose livelihoods you threaten when you take to the streets under a certifiably compromised state are fine—until suddenly, they aren’t.
Whether it’s Thanksgiving weekend or the rush of December holidays soon to arrive, please, don’t be that guy or gal. You know, the one who turns a joyous time for many into the most depressing annual occasion for a family whose only sin was loving someone unfairly taken too soon because of someone who knew the right choice but made the wrong one instead.
"Please make a good decision,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said last week. These words that still ring true today, for the weeks to come, and forever with evergreen fervor.
“Don't get behind the wheel if you've been drinking or using drugs,” he added. “Again, there is no excuse for it. It's selfish, it's stupid.”
We at The South Shore Press second this notion.