Nassau and Suffolk County police departments will be stepping up sobriety checkpoints across Long Island in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day Weekend drunk drivers.

Authorities across Long Island are taking precautionary measures in preparation for expected drunk drivers during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday weekend.

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Police Commissioner Thomas Dale said this week that additional officers will be searching for DWI violators as part of the police department’s “STOP-DWI” program, which will run through the holiday weekend.

Suffolk police is also cracking down on drunk drivers. The department will disperse officers from all seven precincts and the Highway Patrol Bureau to county roads.

“Drivers should expect to see increased enforcement on the roadways throughout the weekend,” Suffolk police said in a news release.

New York State police said it will increase patrols beginning Friday and will add sobriety checkpoints throughout the Island. Police will also be keeping a close eye on anyone selling alcohol to minors.

“We are starting our enforcement St. Patrick’s Day weekend with full knowledge there will be numerous parties and events where alcohol may be consumed, and we are asking everyone who drinks to designate a driver or arrange safe transportation in advance,” said New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico.

Last year, troopers made 504 DWI arrest and issued 11,663 tickets.

While it is common for people to drink in celebration of a holiday weekend, officials urge everyone not to be careless, and rather have an alternate plan in case of intoxication.

“We want you to have a good time,” Mangano said. “However we ask that you make responsible and smart decisions during your celebrations, and plan accordingly so everyone can return home safely to their loved ones.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 31 percent of traffic deaths in the year 2010 were alcohol related. While drunk driving continues to be a national epidemic, Mangano and Dale said they are committed to bringing down that statistic.

“There will be additional police patrols all around Nassau County,” Mangano said, “and chances are if you drive drunk you will be arrested.”

The tragic one-car accident occurred just before 6 a.m. on the westbound side of the Southern State Parkway in North Merrick, police said.

Troopers responded after receiving reports of a car in the trees on the north shoulder of the parkway, just east of the Meadowbrook State Parkway, police said.

State police said 30-year-old Kervens Boutin of Hempstead was driving a Nissan Maxima westbound with four passengers when he lost control of the car and slammed into several trees.

Two passengers—Bryan Rivas, 20, and Blossom Castro, 22, both of Hempstead—were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Boutin and another passenger, 19-year-old Bronx resident Marlo Cabrera, were transported to Nassau University Medical Center in critical condition. As of Monday morning, both were still in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The other passenger, 22-year-old Antonio Rivas of Hempstead, was transported to Winthrop-University Hospital and is still in critical condition, according to a hospital spokesman.

Boutin was charged with reckless driving. Police said additional charges are pending the outcome of the investigation.

The deadly crash comes three months after four people were killed on the Southern State Parkway when the driver, Joseph Beer, crashed near Exit 17. Beer was indicted in November and charged with vehicular manslaughter, among other charges. Prosecutors alleged that he was speeding while high on drugs when the crash occurred.

Anyone who may have witnessed Sunday’s accident is asked to call State Police at 631-756-3300.

The website, established by the governor’s office, provides details about the New York Safe Act for gun owners and licensed dealers and features frequently asked questions and a list of weapons banned under the new law.

The site provides a list of questions and answers pertaining to assault weapons, magazines, antique guns and magazines, private sales, safe storage, dealers and crimes.

New York State also created a hotline for the public to call. The phone number is 1-888-LAW-GUNS and will be activated Jan. 21. The hotline will run during normal business hours Monday through Friday and will be staffed by state police.

Cuomo signed the bill into law Tuesday, the same day that the state legislature approved the measure.

The legislation calls for an immediate ban on assault weapons and all magazines that hold more than seven rounds.

Under the legislation, semi-automatic pistols and rifles with detachable magazines and one military-style feature will be considered assault weapons. The bill also considers semi-automatic shotguns with one military-style feature an assault weapon.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Upton said rain and sleet is expected to continue until 2 p.m. before it clears the area and leaves us with mostly cloudy skies through the night.

Sleet accumulation of less than half an inch is possible Wednesday, forecasters said.

It’s possible—though with the recent stretch of dreary weather some may not believe it—that the sun will peek through the clouds Thursday with forecasters calling for partly sunny skies with a high near 43.

Drivers across the Island are looking to wake up Thursday to friendlier conditions after several accidents Wednesday morning, including one that closed all lanes of the Northern State Parkway between exit 42 and 43 at 6:45 a.m.

A New York State police spokesman wasn’t immediately available to comment on the accident.

A crash on Jericho Turnpike in St. James Wednesday morning claimed the life of one driver, Suffolk County police said. It wasn’t immediately known if the crash was weather related, police said.

Both Nassau and Suffolk police said they didn’t receive reports of any major accidents on the Long Island Expressway.