File #: Res 2257-2009    Version: * Name: Pass tougher laws against drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs, especially those with child passengers.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Public Safety
On agenda: 11/16/2009
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling on the New York State Legislature to pass tougher laws against drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs, especially those with child passengers.
Sponsors: Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Christine C. Quinn, Charles Barron, Gale A. Brewer, Simcha Felder, Lewis A. Fidler, Helen D. Foster, Vincent J. Gentile, Sara M. Gonzalez, Robert Jackson, Letitia James, G. Oliver Koppell, John C. Liu, Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., Albert Vann, David I. Weprin, Michael C. Nelson
Council Member Sponsors: 17
Date Ver.Prime SponsorAction ByActionResultAction DetailsMeeting DetailsMultimedia
12/31/2009*Leroy G. Comrie, Jr. City Council Filed (End of Session)  Action details Meeting details Not available
11/16/2009*Leroy G. Comrie, Jr. City Council Referred to Comm by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
11/16/2009*Leroy G. Comrie, Jr. City Council Introduced by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available

Res. No. 2257

 

Resolution calling on the New York State Legislature to pass tougher laws against drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs, especially those with child passengers.

 

By Council Members Comrie, The Speaker (Council Member Quinn), Barron, Brewer, Felder, Fidler, Foster, Gentile, Gonzalez, Jackson, James, Koppell, Liu, Recchia Vann, Weprin and Nelson.

 

                     Whereas, In the early morning hours of October 11, 2009, a drunk driver flipped her car filled with eight children on the Henry Hudson Parkway; and

                     Whereas, Tragically, Leandra Rosado, an eleven-year-old girl from Chelsea, was killed during the crash and the other children involved sustained serious injuries; and

                     Whereas, In another tragic case in July of 2009, a drunk driver crashed her minivan into an oncoming car after she drove the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway, killing eight people including four children; and

                     Whereas, These recent tragedies underscore the need for the New York State Legislature to pass tougher laws against drunk drivers, especially those who drive drunk with child passengers; and

                     Whereas, In August of 2009, Governor David Paterson submitted the Child Passenger Protection Act, which has become known as “Leandra’s Law,” for consideration by the State Assembly and Senate; and

                     Whereas, The bill would make it a felony to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs with passengers under the age of 16; and

                     Whereas, In addition to elevating such an offense from a misdemeanor to a felony, the proposed legislation would also require an offender convicted of driving under the influence with a child passenger to install a device in his or her car that would make the car inoperable unless the individual demonstrates via breathalyzer that he or she is not under the influence of alcohol; and

                     Whereas, The installation of such a device for a drunk driving offense involving a child passenger is currently not mandated by law and is left to the court’s discretion; and 

Whereas, State figures show alcohol-related accidents killed 18 people aged 17 or younger in 2008, which constitutes roughly five percent of the 381 people who died in alcohol-related crashes in New York that year; and

Whereas, Another 6,886 people were injured in alcohol-related accidents in the State, including 470 under the age of 18; and

Whereas, Because the lives of New York’s children are at stake, the Assembly and the Senate should, in memory of Leandra Rosado, strengthen these laws immediately upon convening in November to discuss the State’s budget deficit and should not wait until the new legislative session begins in 2010 to take up the issue; now, therefore, be it 

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the New York State Legislature to pass tougher laws against drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs, especially those with child passengers.    

JCG

11/05/09

LS# 7921 & 7940