Lawmakers Praise New, Tougher DWI Law

Drive intoxicated with a child in your car and be prepared to go to prison.

Republicans and Democrats alike are heralding Governor David Paterson’s signing of the Child Passenger Protection Act last week as a piece of legislation that was long overdue.

The new law makes it a felony for individuals to drive while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs with children in a vehicle. Previously, such action was considered a misdemeanor offense and was often treated as a traffic violation.

The law also contains a provision that mandates the installation of ignition interlocks on vehicles owned by individuals convicted of any DWI offense.

At the bill signing in Albany, Gov. Paterson said, “too often drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs choose to compromise not only their own lives but the lives of children. Enough already! Our legislation sets some of the toughest penalties in the nation by providing law enforcement with the tools they need to prosecute offenders.”

Republican State Senator Vincent Leibell applauded the bill signing. “Too many lives are lost each year through the reckless and thoughtless act of DWI,” Leibell said. “The legislation is long overdue and takes a tough stand against such unacceptable conduct.”

Democratic Assemblywoman Sandy Galef—whose district represents constituents in Kent, Putnam Valley, and Philipstown, as well as three northern Westchester communities, including the area where an intoxicated Long Island woman drove her car on the Taconic State Parkway last summer into the path of an oncoming vehicle that resulted in the deaths of eight people including herself— said DWI laws had to be updated: “Tougher penalties will hopefully mean that a person will think twice before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The carnage must stop!”

Republican Assemblyman Greg Ball, whose district encompasses Carmel, Patterson and Southeast, as well as North Salem, Somers, and Yorktown, said the bill served as a reminder that “too many children have been injured or killed because those responsible for protecting them ignore that commitment.”

Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy said the law gives prosecutors an ability to crack down hard on violators since “first time offenders driving while intoxicated with a child younger than 16 in the vehicle will be charged with a Class E felony punishable by four years in state prison.”

Individuals charged with DWI with a child in a vehicle will automatically have their license suspended pending prosecution, which is a provision that Levy has lobbied for since taking office nearly two years ago.

Those who drive drunk and cause the death of a child younger than 16 will be charged like a murderer and will face 25-year state prison terms, while drunken drivers who cause serious physical injury as a result of their actions will be sent to state prison for 15 years.

The ignition interlock component of the bill will be enforced by the county’s Department of Probation, which will supervise the use of the interlock system.

Sheriff Donald Smith, who chairs Putnam’s Traffic Safety Committee, applauded the bipartisan bill approved in Albany last week: “We must take vital steps to increase traffic safety while at the same time protecting the most vulnerable highway users—our children and grandchildren. Those who choose to drink and drive risk killing or maiming, not only themselves, but all motorists on the road. The new law will go a long way in curbing this dangerous and thoughtless behavior that has reached near epidemic proportions in our county.”