No Empty Chair, 2025: Law enforcement officials stress responsibility with prom, graduation seasons on the horizon
Each spring, the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee pushes their ‘No Empty Chair’ campaign, which is aimed to educate high school students to make responsible choices during prom and graduation seasons.
This includes underage drinking, the use of drugs, impaired driving and etc.
Since 2003, New York State has seen an 80 percent reduction in fatal motor vehicle crashes where a young driver was involved, based on 2017 data, according to the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.
Additionally, officials say that personal injury crashes involving young drivers have decreased by 61 percent due to effort by the New York State traffic safety community.
“I urge all of our young drivers in Oneida County to value their lives and the lives of others when they take to the road,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr.
“Make good decisions when it comes to alcohol and drugs and eliminate any distractions so that you can focus on driving safely and prevent a tragedy from occurring.”
The 2025 statewide campaign is from Monday, April 21 to Friday, April 25. To help educate teens about safe driving, state and local law enforcement agencies that have School Resource Officers (SROs) or a presence at high schools are encouraged to conduct outreach during this campaign and throughout the prom and graduation season.
In addition to educating students about safe driving, state and local law enforcement increase patrols near local high schools throughout the state, and officers are vigilant in enforcing violations of the Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) law. The GDL is intended to provide time for young drivers to gain critical experience in various traffic scenarios in a safe and controlled manner.
The enforcement component of the campaign targets specific infractions statewide during the week, as well as other vehicle and traffic law violations.
The target dates for 2025 are as follows:
Monday, April 21, 2025 – Speeding in School Zones
Tuesday, April 22, 2025 – Seat Belt and Child Restraints
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 – Cell Phone Use and Texting
Thursday, April 24, 2025 – Operation Safe Stop
Friday, April 25, 2025 - Underage Drinking and Impaired Driving
No Empty Chair image.
