What's happening
This bill increases fines and jail time for repeat offenses of driving while ability impaired by alcohol or drugs in New York.
Why it matters
Raises the stakes for repeat offenders. By increasing both fines and potential jail time for those with multiple driving while ability impaired (DWAI) offenses, the bill aims to create a stronger deterrent against repeated dangerous behavior.
Signals greater seriousness of impaired driving. Elevating penalties, especially making a second offense within five years a misdemeanor with higher fines and up to 90 days in jail, reflects a policy shift toward treating DWAI more like a criminal act when it’s a repeated offense.
Potential for broader impacts on individuals and communities. Harsher penalties could lead to more individuals facing significant legal and financial consequences, which may affect employment, family life, and community safety, while also possibly reducing recidivism rates.
Aligns with broader efforts to reduce impaired driving. By making penalties more severe, New York is joining a national trend to address impaired driving through enhanced legal consequences, which could lead to changes in law enforcement practices and public awareness.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Increase Drunk Driving Penalties
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
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History
- Referred to transportation
- Referred to transportation
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
70
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 4, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. GANTT -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the penalties for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 1193 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chapter 75 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Driving while ability impaired. A violation of subdivision one of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article shall be a traffic infraction and shall be punishable by a fine of not less than three hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in a penitentiary or county jail for not more than fifteen days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. A person who operates a vehicle in violation of such subdivision after having been convicted of a violation of any subdivision of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article within the preceding five years shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than [five] seven hundred fifty dollars nor more than [seven hundred fifty] one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment of not more than [thirty] ninety days in a penitentiary or county jail or by both such fine and imprisonment. A person who operates a vehicle in violation of such subdivision after having been convicted two or more times of a violation of any subdivision of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article within the preceding ten years shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than [seven hundred fifty] one thousand dollars nor more than [fifteen hundred] two thousand dollars, or by imprisonment of not more than one
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02030-01-7
A. 70 2
hundred eighty days in a penitentiary or county jail or by both such fine and imprisonment.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.