ALBANY – Regulations imposing stringent license suspensions for repeat driving-while-impaired offenders were upheld as legal by New York state’s highest court Tuesday.

The Court of Appeals said the suspensions—in some cases for the lifetimes of persistent drunken drivers—are grounded in the sound public policy of attempting to reduce alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, which cause 300 deaths and 6,000 injuries a year in New York.