In Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address, she said state officials would focus on taking high-risk drivers off the road. Now the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles is acting with new potential regulations.

Getting a traffic ticket in New York could have harsher penalties for drivers and lead to quicker license suspensions if violations add up. That’s proposed by the state DMV, which proposes changing the way the state’s point system for traffic offenses works.

Mike Sweeney, AAA Hudson Valley’s traffic safety educator, said it's necessary to bring down the nation’s staggering vehicle accident death total.

“You think about the fact that we lose over 40,000 people a year in the United States," he said. "That should be a number that upsets people a lot. And anything we can do to reduce the death toll is a positive.”

The proposed changes would add points to violations that currently don’t have any, like driving under the influence, or speeding in a work zone.

It would decrease the threshold for a driver’s license suspension. That would come after accumulating 11 points over 24 months, previously 18 months.

It would also lower the number of driving under the influence convictions needed before permanent license revocation.

“Drunk driving is our biggest killer overall," Sweeney said. "So it always had penalties. But having it count as a moving violation and points seems to make logical sense.”

These are welcome changes, Sweeney said, but only time will tell if they will have an effect on dangerous driving. He thinks the state should look at a multi-pronged approach to promote safe and defensive driving.

“Any other measures that we can take that," Sweeney said. "Better driver education, obviously anything that would get people to drive better. Points alone and/or suspensions alone doesn't necessarily stop somebody from driving.”

The changes will be reviewed in the New York State Register, and stay open for comment for 60 days.