CAPITOL New law targets drunken drivers Offenders driving with a child face felony charge BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
Authorities have a new weapon in their efforts to protect children from drunken drivers: possible prison time for first-time offenders. A new state law goes into effect Friday making it a felony for anyone driving drunk with a child under the age of 16 in the car. That’s a felony even without an accident, injuries or even a prior conviction, officials said. Local officials Monday said the new regulations make sense because children don’t have the choice of whom they ride with. “These are truly the innocent victims,” Schenectady County STOP-DWI coordinator Denise Cashmere said. “They can’t protect themselves.” The law was passed last month and not only targets those driving drunk with children, but drunken drivers in general. It was dubbed Leandra’s Law after Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old girl killed in a Manhattan drunken driving accident in October. The new law was highlighted Monday in a news conference in Albany with several Schenectady County officials in attendance. Regarding all drunken drivers, effective Aug. 15, 2010, all drivers convicted of misdemeanor or felony driving while intoxicated will be required to install ignition interlock systems for at least six months. Previously, the systems, which prevent a vehicle from starting if the operator is intoxicated, have been used locally through probation. The devices can include GPS and cameras, and prevent the car from starting if they find the user is drunk. Currently, about 20 offenders on probation use the system in Schenectady County. That number could balloon to more than 100 at any given time, Cashmere said. Offenders pay $100 per month for the program. Officials are working out the details of the expanded effort. The provisions involving children that go into effect Friday include increased penalties for drunk- en driving accidents that severely injure child passengers or result in a child’s death, with penalties of up to 15 years and 25 years in prison respectively. Driver’s licenses would also automatically be suspended pending prosecution. Though not numerous, there have been drunken driving charges lodged when children have been passengers. In October, a man was charged in Schenectady with driving with a blood alcohol content of .18 with a 5-year-old and a 2-week-old in the car. In December 2008, another man was charged with drunken driving after a crash with his 14-year-old daughter in the car. The girl was injured. In February 2006, a blood test showed another driver with a blood alcohol content of .36 — more than four times the legal limit. A sheriff’s deputy commented later that it was the highest he’d ever seen. That man was charged after a hit-and-run accident. Inside his car, uninjured, was a 7-year-old child. In all three cases, all the drivers could be charged with were misdemeanor driving while intoxicated and misdemeanor child endangerment. It’s something that’s being seen all over, law enforcement officials said. “Unfortunately, we see a lot more kids in the car. I’m glad the laws are catching up,” said Mechanicville Police Chief Joe Waldron, chairman of the Saratoga County Traffic Safety Committee. Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney noted the seriousness of the new law for potential drunken drivers. “Somebody could now face a felony who has never been arrested before,” Carney said. “If that person goes through a roadblock or a checkpoint with a child in the car and they’re over .08, that person could face a felony charge.” ............................>>>>.................>>>>....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00102&AppName=1
I'm all for legislation to protect children but according to the news a person could get 25 years for DWI with a child under 16 in the vehicle and that's more time than some murders receive. The law is good but the time in prison is excessive and will be challenged in the courts.
Although this legislation sounds good, I don't agree with it. One being what Shadow mentioned. That the sentence is excessive and would probably be challenged.
Second, since alcoholism is considered a disease now, who will make that diagnosis, when and if this law is broken?
Third, I hate when they make one group of people more or less important than others when they decide laws. How 'bout someone driving drunk with their 80 year old mother, father, relative or friend in the car? Does the driver get less of a sentence? Is a 20, 30, 40, 50 year olds life worth less?
Fourth, most kids at 16 have been drunk themselves and think it's 'cool'. And have actually driven drunk themselves. And what if a 16 year old is driving 'under the influence' with their younger sibling? So WTH?
I don't agree with this new legislation! If they were going to make the law, it should have been written to say, that anyone driving drunk with ANYONE ELSE in the car will face a stiffer penalty.
It's all nonsense to me? IMHO
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Doctor snared by new law Albany OB/GYN facing felony DWI for allegedly having child passenger
By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer First published in print: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
GUILDERLAND -- A 52-year-old doctor from Voorheesville on Saturday became the first person in Albany County, and among the first in the state, charged under a law that makes it a felony to drive drunk with a child in the car. The Child Passenger Protection Act, better known as Leandra's Law, was signed by Gov. David Paterson last month and went into effect Friday. Dr. Eileen E. Joyce, an OB/GYN with a practice on Washington Avenue in Albany, was arrested around 11:45 p.m. Saturday after being pulled over on Route 155 for a series of alleged traffic infractions, said Guilderland police Capt. Curtis Cox.
Among the three passengers in Joyce's 2008 BMW was a 7-year-old girl, the daughter of another one of Joyce's passengers, Cox said.
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