Relates to the operation of a motor vehicle while driving while impaired in certain circumstances and increasing the penalties therefor

9 Co-sponsors

• William Colton
• Nelson Castro
• Audrey Pheffer
• Ginny Fields
• Nettie Mayersohn
• David McDonough
• Sandy Galef
• Jeffrey Dinowitz
• Darryl Towns

8 Multi-sponsors

• Clifford Crouch
• RoAnn Destito
• James Hayes
• William Magee
• Ann Rabbitt
• Robert Sweeney
• Fred Thiele
• David Townsend

BILL NUMBER:A9111

Title of bill

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the penal law, in relation to the operation of a motor vehicle while driving while impaired in certain circumstances and increasing the penalties therefor

Purpose

To amend the vehicle and traffic law and the penal law, in relation to the operation of a motor vehicle while driving while impaired with, causing serious injury to, or causing the death of a person under the age of sixteen years and increasing the penalties therefor

Summary of provisions

Section 1: Amends section 1193 of the vehicle and traffic law providing for a person who operates a vehicle while under the influence with a passenger under the age of sixteen would be guilty of a class E felony punishable by a fine of up to five thousand dollars and or a period of imprisonment of up to four years.

Section 2: Amends section 125.14 of the penal law by adding new subsection 7 to provide that a person who causes the death of a person under the age of sixteen be charged with the crime of aggravated vehicu- lar homicide and increases the penalty from a class B felony to a class B violent felony.

Section 3: Amends section 120.04-a of the penal law by adding new subsection 6 to provide that a person who causes serious physical injury to a person under the age of sixteen be charged with the crime of aggra- vated vehicular assault and increases the penalty from a class C felony to a class C violent felony.

Section 4: Effective date

Justification

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin- istration's National Center for Statistics and Analysis in 2004 a total of 442 (21 %) of all fatalities among children 14 and younger occurred in crashes involving alcohol. Of those 442, approximately half of those killed were passengers in vehicles with drivers who had been drinking with blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels of .01 grams per deciliter of higher. On average 500 children are killed annually in alcohol-relat- ed traffic crashes where the adult driver was responsible for their safety. Between 1985 and 1996 more than 5,500 children passengers died as a result of alcohol related traffic crashes. In 64 percent of those deaths, the child was riding as a passenger with-he drunk driver, and almost two-thirds of those fatalities involved a parent-aged driver. From 1994 - 2000 there where 12,409 alcohol-related deaths involving children under the age of 14.

Drunken Driving is a pervasive blight on our society which may have far reaching negative effects on those lives it touches. Death, pariliza- tion, amputation, head trauma and disfigurement are common when a car driven by a drunk driver is involved in an accident. As a society we

have already determined this to be a significant crime. When an adult who is responsible for the care of a child violates their obligation to protect that child and drives while intoxicated they are committing a crime that should be held as particularly despicable by society. For this reason, it is imperative that we pass strict laws proclaiming that this state will have no tolerance for such behavior and will punish those offenders appropriately both for what they have done and to discourage others.

Legislative history

New Bill

Fiscal implications

Increase in revenue for the state.

Effective date

The First of November next succeeding the date it shall have become law.