Malliotakis Cites Recent Dwi Conviction in Support of Bill to Strengthen Drunk-Driving Penalties

Golden, Malliotakis legislation would revoke license plates of drunk drivers caught driving while unlicensed

Following today’s Staten Island Advance story regarding the DWI conviction of Charles Pelicone, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R,C-East Shore/Bay Ridge) is renewing her plea for the New York State Assembly to pass new drunk driving laws (A. 6878) in response to a rash of recent cases across the state.

The proposal takes a new approach to penalizing repeat drunk drivers, who account for between one-third and on-half of all DWI arrests in the state every year. The Senate bill, (S. 4036) sponsored by Senator Martin Golden (R,C,I-Brooklyn), was passed by the State Senate on June 14, 2011.

“How many stories do we need to hear and how many people must be hurt before we change our state’s drunk-driving laws to strengthen penalties and impose consequences that fit the crime?” said Malliotakis. “A large share of drunk drivers continue to operate their vehicles in spite of suspended and revoked licenses. This legislation would enact a more forceful approach in keeping these repeat offenders off the road.”

Senator Marty Golden stated, “The State Assembly must follow the State Senate in establishing tougher laws so to rid our streets of drunk drivers. Assemblywoman Malliotakis understands the need to protect all pedestrians and motorists and I commend her for sponsoring this bill in the Assembly. It is time that we toughen the penalties and send a clear message throughout the Empire State that drunk driving has no place in our society.”

Golden continued, “Assemblywoman Malliotakis and I will not tolerate such reckless behavior that has destroyed families and continues to endanger us all.”

Malliotakis and Golden’s new legislation would:

Ø call for automatic revocation of a driver’s license for 10 years upon the third DWI conviction;

Ø immediately suspend one’s vehicle registration and revoke license plates while the license is invalidated; and

Ø immediately suspend one’s vehicle registration and revoke license plates for any convicted drunk driver caught driving with a suspended license.