Trooper Tinker Joins X101 to Discuss Halloween Weekend Stop DWI Campaign

Jack Eves: [00:00:00] X 1 0 1, always classic Jack here in the studio. And joining me in the studio today is New York State Police Public Information Officer for Troop C. Trooper Aga Tinker. Trooper Tinker. Great to see you again.

Trooper Tinker: Always great to be here and see you.

Jack Eves: Yes, of course. And thank you for coming in and, you know, Halloween is coming up Quick Friday, October 31st, and Halloween on a Friday is a, a big deal for a lot of people.

Going out and obviously trick or treating and all that, but also another stop DWI campaign as well going on.

Trooper Tinker: Yeah, I mean, yeah, it is gonna be a a, a fun weekend, fun time for costumes, fun parties, you know, whichever. But yes, we have a detail that’s going on from the 31st into the. Through the weekend and into November 2nd, just to kind of let people know that we will be out there and we just want everyone to get home safely.

Partake in all the fun you want, but we just want everyone to, to be safe out there.

Jack Eves: Then definitely striking the nail on the head with being safe at there. ’cause you know, with Halloween there’s a lot of kids out and of course, you know, daylight savings is that [00:01:00] Sunday, believe it or not. So it’s hours are getting darker and, you know.

Really the importance of driving sober probably cannot be understated for this weekend with kids around.

Trooper Tinker: Yeah, I mean, you have to, when you get behind the wheel, you have to make responsible choices. So, you know, we want everyone to have a fun time. But if someone makes the wrong choice or they get behind the wheel because they’re drinking or they’re impaired by, whether it be a recreational drug mm-hmm.

Or a prescription drug, we don’t want it to turn deadly. Yeah. Because that one wrong choice could ruin your life and change the lives

Jack Eves: of all.

Trooper Tinker: Exactly. Exactly. So, you know, have fun, but. Plan ahead. Be mindful that there’s gonna be extra pedestrian traffic. You know, children, parents,

Jack Eves: and sometimes, you know, kids might not know better, they might not look twice before using a crosswalk too.

And it’s always, you know, maybe even drive, especially if you’re in towns too, where you know there’s gonna be trick or treaters slow down a little bit as well. If you’re out and driving, [00:02:00] you know, if you’re going out to party, there are a million ways to make sure you can get home safe, including a designated driver.

There’s cabs, there’s Uber, and all that.

Trooper Tinker: Yeah, absolutely. And, and if worse comes to worse, stay there.

Jack Eves: Yeah.

Trooper Tinker: And just sleep it off because we, we don’t want all those people being in danger or you endangering yourself. Mm-hmm. And, and, and like you, you touched on the kids don’t always pay attention if you are a parent.

Talk to your children before you go out. Let them know. They have to look both ways because you know, these kids are super excited to see their friends, see all the costumes, and then get all the candy at the houses. I mean, I get kids that are just so excited when they’re at my door because they see the dogs.

Yeah. You know, so it’s just like, pay attention to that. Talk to your kids, as a driver. Know that. Yes, there’s going to be people walking in the roads. There may be sidewalks, there may not be sidewalks, depending on where you go and those Exactly. You know, pay attention to that as well. And, and, and going back to, with the parents, make sure that your kids have something reflective.

They, they can see through [00:03:00] their mask. I mean, take those precautions as well.

Jack Eves: Definitely. And, yeah, speaking with, you know, speaking with your kids and all that, and sidewalks and the penalties are steep. You know, if you could pull over in your car and you’re driving impaired, you know, obviously state police along with other law enforcement agencies, you know, Halloween night and even into the weekend, as you said, they’re gonna be stepping up their campaigns for that reason.

And even in Troop C where Cortland and Tompkins County are part of, you know, there are people that get ticketed. You’ve mentioned before we went on air, last year’s statistics.

Trooper Tinker: Yeah. Last year there was. 11 people that was, were arrested for DWI in the area. So, you know, there will be extra patrols out, there will be drug recognition experts, that are troopers.

That’ll be out. Mm-hmm. Also, like you said, other agencies will be out and there may or may not be sobriety checkpoints

Jack Eves: and it, and it’s, it’s there not as like a get you thing, you know, it’s, it’s there as a deterrent to make sure you’re not going home impaired, but also to make sure, you know, people can get home safely.

Trooper Tinker: Right. I mean, and that’s why we do even these interviews. Let’s, let’s get the education out there. Know that like we are [00:04:00] going to be out there and we just want everyone to be able to get home safely. I know I always say that line, everyone needs to get home safely, but that’s, that’s key. I mean, the, the number of fatalities that we have due to accidents on the highways just is, is so high.

It’s one of the top reasons for mm-hmm. Fatalities. And it’s just like, let’s, let’s, let’s get those numbers to go down. Yeah. Make the right choices. Find somebody to give you a ride. You know, stay there. There’s so many things that you could do, and then if you are out on the road and you see something.

Call 9 1 1. It’s okay. Like we don’t, we, we don’t get annoyed with that. Please call 9 1 1. If you see a driver that’s maybe all over the road or driving too slowly, it’s, it’s never, it’s never a hassle for us.

Jack Eves: Never a hassle. Trooper Tinker, thank you so much for coming in again, Scott WI, high visibility campaign is kicking off October 31st and it will be going through the weekend and you know, if you’re gonna be going out celebrating.

Make sure you have a sober ride. Call a cab Uber, or even stay home and sleep it off. And if you’re a [00:05:00] parent, make sure your kids are using that precaution too, especially in areas that might not have sidewalks and wear some high visibility. ’cause it is gonna be dark out there.

Trooper Tinker: Absolutely.

Jack Eves: Trooper Tin, thank you so much for joining us today.

Trooper Tinker: Thanks for having me.

Jack Eves: Rack one on, I’m Jack Eves.