Cars are stopped at a checkpoint in Greenwich Village, as tough new drunken driving rules take effect in New York

February 22, 1999
Web posted at: 11:16 a.m. EST (1616 GMT)

In this story: How the policy works RELATED STORIES, SITES

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two suspected drunken drivers are the first to have their cars seized by New York City police under a tough new policy aimed at reducing traffic deaths. New York is the first municipality in the nation to seize the vehicles of motorists arrested for driving while intoxicated.

The New York Civil Liberties Union has attacked the crackdown as excessive and vows to challenge it in court, arguing you can't punish someone without a conviction.

"We agree that drunk driving is a problem, but we believe the city is going about it in the wrong way," said Norman Siegel, the group's executive director.

Other critics worry that the seizures will hurt other family members who might depend on the car.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who ordered the new policy, said he is confident his Zero Tolerance Drinking and Driving Initiative will hold up in court. He calls it a "very, very useful way" of lowering the number of traffic fatalities on city roads.

How the policy works

Under New York City's new drunken driving policy: