#NYPD chief warns drunk drivers to stay off streets July 4

The NYPD’s top traffic cop has a message for would-be drunk and drugged drivers this weekend: The consequences will be swift and harsh.

“Let me be clear: if you decide to be selfish and get behind the wheel while impaired, the NYPD will arrest you and will take your vehicle and you will learn the consequences,” Assistant Chief Kim Royster, who runs the Transportation Bureau, said at a news conference about July 4 weekend.

“My suggestion is call an Uber, call a Lyft or call a cab,” she said outside police headquarters at One Police Plaza

Royster promised cops would be “laser focused” on impaired drivers from July 2 through July 5. 

“These officers are skilled, and specifically trained to detect drivers that drive drunk or high on drugs,” Royster said.

The Transportation Bureau chief also warned drivers should be ready to face fines if they’re driving cars with modified exhaust systems that make them louder.

“We know that traffic safety is public safety, but let’s not forget the quality of life that matters to over 8 million residents,” she said.

“Therefore, highway officers will be out to enforce the modified exhaust systems that are installed on motorcycles and cars.”

Several hundred cops had been trained specifically to work over the holiday weekend to patrol drivers throughout the city, Royster said.

Nine people have been killed so far this year as “a direct result of drivers getting behind the wheel and driving while drunk,” the cop said, mentioning Police Officer Anastasio Tsakos, who was killed by a drunk driver while directing traffic on the Long Island Expressway in Queens April 27.

“We are committed to making the holiday weekend safe on our roads and we will be extra vigilant in removing impaired drivers from our highways and our streets,” Royster continued. 

Cops have also issued 60 summonses to drivers of the super-loud vehicles so far this year.

But drivers aren’t the only road users the NYPD is cracking down on over the Independence Day weekend.

Bicycle riders must also follow the rules, including “stopping at red lights, yielding to pedestrians and not riding on sidewalks,” Royster said.