Golden: Senate Cracks Down on Hit and Run Drivers

Albany- The New York State Senate today voted to approve legislation sponsored by State Senator Martin J. Golden (R-C-I, Brooklyn), S. 2503, that will increase the penalties for leaving the scene of an accident where property damage, serious personal injury or death occurs.

This bill increases the penalties for drivers who leave the scene of an accident without stopping and/or reporting it, causing property damage, from a Class A Misdemeanor to a Class E Felony. The penalty for repeat hit and run drivers who cause property damage or personal injury, would be elevated from a Class E Felony to a Class D Felony. Drivers who flee from the scene of an accident where someone was killed would now face Class C Felony.

Senator Marty Golden stated, “Just last week, a hit and run accident in Manhattan took the life of a senior citizen. Two times in December we saw young women lose their lives at the hands of a motorist, in the Bronx and in Queens. And in November, a jogger was struck and killed in Brooklyn.”

“In three months, four people have been killed in the five boroughs in hit and run accidents. It is time to get serious about making sure that reckless drivers, who take innocent lives and destroy families, face the strictest penalties. I commend my Senate colleagues for passing this bill today. Each day that the State Assembly fails to act, it is another day that New Yorkers are walking, jogging, and riding their bikes in danger.”

Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn) is the sponsor of the bill A.1533 in the Assembly.