New York State Senate passes DWI legislation calling for tougher

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), May 26, 2005 by Rochester Daily Record Staff

The New York State Senate passed a comprehensive package of legislation to combat driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. The legislation will increase penalties for repeat drunk drivers, increase penalties for drunk drivers who drive with children in the car, increase the minimum license revocation for the failure to submit to a chemical test and will create the new crimes of aggravated driving while intoxicated and driving while under the influence of the combined effects of drugs and alcohol.

Tougher Penalties

The legislation calls for a new Class E felony of aggravated driving for drivers with a .2 blood alcohol content; creates the new crime of driving under the influence of the combined effects of drugs and alcohol; establishes more precise methods for measuring intoxication; and would remedy technicalities under current law that impede the effective investigation and prosecution of alcohol related driving offenses.

The legislation would also increase and promote public safety by increasing criminal penalties for Vehicular Manslaughter in the First and Second Degrees and Vehicular Assault in the First and Second Degrees; removing the requirement that prosecutors prove criminal negligence in Vehicular Manslaughter cases involving drunk drivers; creating new felony crimes for those who cause death or serious injury when fleeing at high speed from pursuing police officers; and authorizing judges to impose consecutive sentences when a person injures or kills more than one person as a result of a single criminal act.

Routinely, first time offenders driving under the influence of a drug are offered a plea that allows the defendant to admit to driving while under the influence of alcohol. This legislation allows law enforcement officials to recognize if a defendant has been known to utilize drugs in past occurrences, rather than the misleading alcohol violations that may currently show on some offender's records because of unfair plea bargains.

Additional Penalties For Drunk Driving With Children As Passengers

Since the early 1990s, at least 27 states have passed laws to expand protection for children and punish the drunk drivers who put them at risk. The bill provides for additional penalties for convictions of drunk or drugged driving where a child under the age of 17 is a passenger.

The new penalties include: an additional fine of $200 to $500 and an additional 48 hours of imprisonment for a first offense; an additional fine of $400 to $1,000 and an additional 10 days of imprisonment for a second offense; and an additional fine of $1,000 to $5,000 and an additional 30 to 90 days of imprisonment for any subsequent offense.

License Revocation

The bill also increases the minimum length a driver's license can be revoked for the refusal to submit to a chemical test, from six months to one year for a criminal offense.

In a case where a person has had a prior revocation for refusing to submit to a chemical test, or has been convicted of or found to be in violation of driving while ability is impaired by drugs or alcohol within the past five years, the bill would extend the minimum revocation from one year to 18 months.

Under current law, a driver's license is suspended for six months upon a first offense of refusing to submit to a chemical test, and one year when the driver has a prior refusal or a prior conviction of an alcohol related offense.

The legislation also creates a mandatory minimum revocation period of one year for the first conviction of DWI, and requires the permanent revocation when a person has accumulated three or more alcohol-related incidents within five years, or four or more within 10 years.

Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) Testing

Under the new legislation, all drivers involved in a fatal or serious injury accident would be required to submit to a blood alcohol content (BAC) test, when there is reasonable cause to believe that an alcohol related offense has been committed.

Rationale for this mandate stems from the reasoning that in accidents where a death or serious injury occurs, the state's interest in promoting public safety by obtaining BAC evidence of driving while impaired by alcohol outweighs the driver's privilege of refusing the test. There are situations where a court-ordered chemical test would interfere with the ability to provide emergency medical services, and an exception is provided in the bill for such circumstances.

The bills were sent to the Assembly.