Troopers topped million ticket mark in 2007

ALBANY — New York’s state police reached a milestone in 2007: Troopers handed out a million traffic tickets for the first time. Acting Superintendent Preston Felton says preliminary statistics show 1,019,000 tickets were issued, reflecting what he says is a commitment to preventing deaths on the state’s roads and highways. Almost half of the tickets were for “priority offenses” — like failure to wear seatbelts, speeding or driving while intoxicated — that accounted for more than 70 percent of traffic deaths in 2006, according to the data released on Jan. 8.