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Who cares
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Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 3
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to codes
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to lowering the blood alcohol level from .18 to .14 for the offenses of vehicular manslaughter in the first degree, vehicular assault in the first degree and aggravated vehicular assault
Purpose or general idea of bill
To decrease the blood alcohol threshold from .18 to .14 for the applicability of higher level vehicular assault and manslaughter charges.
Summary of specific provisions
Sections One amends the penal law to decrease the blood alcohol level from .18 to .14 for the offenses of vehicular manslaughter in the first degree, vehicular assault in the first degree and aggravated vehicular assault.
Existing law
Currently, in order for the elevated crimes to be applicable, an individual must have a blood alcohol content of .18 or more.
Justification
Most states provide for increased criminal penalties against drunk drivers who have excessively high blood alcohol contents. The requisite blood alcohol levels to trigger an increased criminal penalty ranges from .15 in states like California, Maine and Maryland to .20 in states like Florida, Idaho, and Tennessee.
In an effort to further deter individuals who are under the influence from driving, this bill decreases the requisite blood alcohol content to trigger an increased criminal penalty from .18 to .14, making New York the strictest states in the nation in terms of increased penalties for excessively intoxicated individuals who decide to get behind the wheel when their actions result in the injury or death of another.
Prior legislative history
New bill
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.