Buffalo Travel Ban: Is the Erie County Driving Ban in Effect?

Erie County

Does the Buffalo travel ban still apply today?

A Buffalo travel ban on non-emergency travel remains in effect today, December 26, 2022 in the latest update.

“The driving ban will not be lifted anytime soon,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said in a morning news briefing. In addition to the city of Buffalo, New York, there is still a driving ban for Amherst, Lackawanna, Cheektowaga, Clarence and Hamburg, as of December 26, 2022, 3:00 p.m.

According to Poloncarz, December 26 “is still snowing in the city.” He said 8 to 12 inches of snow were expected in some areas of the city by 1 p.m. on Dec. 27, 2022.

“This isn’t helpful as we’re trying to recover and clear roads and get into areas that haven’t had a plow yet,” Poloncarz said, adding that the state of emergency is still in effect for all of Erie County and it still is impose a driving ban in the city of Buffalo and some other communities.

Here’s what you need to know:

Buffalo is “impassable in most areas,” says the county executive

Erie CoBuffalo Blizzard Photos

The city of Buffalo “is impassable in most areas,” Poloncarz said. He noted that the “back streets have not yet been touched,” largely because efforts have been made to open up areas around hospitals, nursing homes and “other emergency care.”

To underscore the difficulties in the situation, he spoke about how authorities helped a woman with a complicated pregnancy make it to a children’s hospital, where her baby was born.

“Life safety was the first and most important issue we dealt with,” he said.

According to Poloncarz, most of the abandoned cars in the city had not yet been towed away. “Cars everywhere” They need to be dug up and towed away, but “these will take time to clear,” he said, noting that there are abandoned buses on the streets.

“The suburbs are better,” but some suburban communities like Amherst still have driving bans in place.

Police will begin ticketing drivers who ignore the travel ban, officials say

Erie CoBuffalo Blizzard

Conditions were “poor,” Poloncarz said, and the main roads were only open for emergency driving. He said there were reports of people “taking jaunts or going to a friend’s house” despite the travel gang, and he said police would start issuing people tickets.

The police are busy “working around the clock on life-saving measures,” said Poloncarz.

“They hurt our ability to recover,” he said of the Joy Riders.

Looting was reported throughout the city. Poloncarz acknowledged there has been looting as police are tied up trying to save people. Viral videos surfaced showing incidents of Buffalo looting.

Poloncarz also said in the press conference that authorities are working to get people food supplies and are focusing on getting doctors and patients to hospitals. Many cars are still stuck throughout Buffalo, he said. He urged people to use 911 only in real emergencies.

William Clay and Anndel Taylor are the victims of the Buffalo blizzard mentioned so far. He died outside and she died trapped in a car, family members wrote on social media.

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