The Third Department determined the state trooper properly stopped the defendant, which led to his arrest for DWI, because the defendant had his high beams on as he approached the trooper:
Petitioner contends that the revocation of his driver’s license must be reversed because the trooper’s testimony at the revocation hearing was insufficient to establish that he violated Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375 (3), thereby rendering the traffic stop unlawful. We disagree. A police officer may lawfully execute a traffic stop of a vehicle when he or she has probable cause to believe that the driver of the vehicle has committed a violation of the Vehicle and Traffic Law … . Pursuant to Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375 (3), a driver shall operate his or her headlights in such a manner “that dazzling light does not interfere with the driver of [an] approaching vehicle.” To establish such a violation, it must be shown that the operator of the motor vehicle used his or her high beams within 500 feet of an approaching vehicle and that the use of such high beams interfered with the vision of that driver by “hampering or hindering [his or her] vision” … .
At the hearing, the trooper testified that he was traveling westbound … , when he observed petitioner’s vehicle approximately 500 feet away in the eastbound lane of travel with his high beams activated. The trooper testified that petitioner’s high beams caused “a glare to [his] vision” and affected his driving insofar as he had to “adjust [his] eyes.” In our view, such testimony sufficiently established that he had probable cause to believe that petitioner had committed a violation of the Vehicle and Traffic Law … and, together with the negative inference that the Appeals Board permissibly drew from petitioner’s failure to testify at the hearing … , we conclude that the determination was supported by substantial evidence … . Matter of Barr v New York State Dept. of Motor Vehicles, 2017 NY Slip Op 07664, Third Dept 11-2-17
CRIMINAL LAW (DRIVING WITH HIGH BEAMS ON JUSTIFIED THE VEHICLE STOP WHICH LED TO A DWI ARREST (THIRD DEPT))/VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW (HIGH BEAMS, DRIVING WITH HIGH BEAMS ON JUSTIFIED THE VEHICLE STOP WHICH LED TO A DWI ARREST (THIRD DEPT))/TRAFFIC STOPS (DRIVING WITH HIGH BEAMS ON JUSTIFIED THE VEHICLE STOP WHICH LED TO A DWI ARREST (THIRD DEPT)/HIGH BEAMS (VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW, DRIVING WITH HIGH BEAMS ON JUSTIFIED THE VEHICLE STOP WHICH LED TO A DWI ARREST (THIRD DEPT))/REVOCATION (DRIVER’S LICENSE, DRIVING WITH HIGH BEAMS ON JUSTIFIED THE VEHICLE STOP WHICH LED TO A DWI ARREST (THIRD DEPT))/DRIVER’S LICENSE (REVOCATION, DRIVING WITH HIGH BEAMS ON JUSTIFIED THE VEHICLE STOP WHICH LED TO A DWI ARREST (THIRD DEPT))REFUSAL (CHEMICAL TEST, DWI, DRIVER’S LICENSE REVOCATION, DRIVING WITH HIGH BEAMS ON JUSTIFIED THE VEHICLE STOP WHICH LED TO A DWI ARREST (THIRD DEPT))/DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED (TRAFFIC STOP, REVOCATION HEARING, DRIVING WITH HIGH BEAMS ON JUSTIFIED THE VEHICLE STOP WHICH LED TO A DWI ARREST (THIRD DEPT))