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History
- Defeated in codes
- Notice of committee consideration - requested
- Referred to codes
Companion bill
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Includes in the class E felony of vehicular assault in the second degree, the causing of serious physical injury or death while operating a vehicle with suspended, revoked or no license
In Assembly Committee · Codes · Sponsor Margaret Markey
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S6386 REVISED 1/23/14
Title of bill
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to including within the offense of vehicular assault in the second degree, the causing of serious injury or death while knowingly operating a motor vehicle with a revoked or suspended license or while not holding a license
Purpose
Includes in a class E felony of vehicular assault in the second degree, the causing of serious physical injury or death while operating a vehicle with suspended, revoked or no license.
Summary of specific provisions
Section one of the bill amends Section 120.03 of the penal law to provide a person is guilty of vehicular assault in the second degree when he or she causes serious physical injury or death to another person by operation of a motor vehicle while knowing or having reason to know that his or her license or privilege of operating a motor vehicle is suspended or revoked pursuant to subdivision two or three of section five hundred ten or five hundred ten-a of the vehicle and traffic law; or he or she is not duly licensed.
Section two of the bill is the effective date.
Justification
In recent months, more attention has been paid to the fact that drivers with suspended licenses in New York State are still getting behind the wheel - and killing people. Ten percent of all crashes in New York are caused by drivers with suspended or revoked licenses, and 75 percent of those drivers still get behind the wheel.
Often, these drivers are suspended for reasons related to traffic safety. They are a menace to not only pedestrians like Noshat Nahian, the eight year old third grader at PS 152 who lost his life when he was hit by a tractor trailer while crossing Northern Boulevard at 61st Street, but also to other drivers on the road. Licenses are suspended for a reason: these people should not be behind the wheel of a vehicle.
It is illegal to drive a vehicle on a street or highway without a valid driver's license. The right to operate a motor vehicle is granted by the state, and its use depends upon the motorist complying with the conditions prescribed in granting the license.
While we can't turn back the clock on past accidents due to driving with a suspended license, we can make it more difficult for people to engage in this activity in the future. We must redouble our efforts to make our streets safer, including bringing chronically reckless drivers to justice.
This legislation would make it a class E felony for drivers who drive unlicensed or with a revoked/suspended license and kill or seriously injure someone in the process. This crime would carry a sentence of up to four years in prison.
Prior legislative history
New Bill
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
None.
Effective date
This act should take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.