(ALBANY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney and a powerful broad- based coalition launched “Days of Action” this week, urging state legislators to pass the bipartisan Deadly Driving Bill before the budget-shortened legislative session ends. The bill would close the dangerous loophole that prohibits the prosecution of obviously impaired drivers unless the drug the driver used can be named on a statutory list. New York is one of only four states that ties drugged driving to a list and the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that the state remove this restriction in 2023. This week’s meetings continue the letter-writing, email, phone call and social media campaign demanding the bill’s passage.
“As the District Attorney of Suffolk County, I have seen the devastation that drugged driving has caused innocent families on New York’s roads,” said District Attorney Tierney. “I am dedicating the resources of my office to close these loopholes because everyone, from every community, in every corner of this state deserves to be safe. New York State needs to take action to save peoples’ lives.”
Members of the coalition, which includes the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York (DAASNY), the National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving/Responsibility.org, MADD, STOP-DWI, AAA, law enforcement agencies including the Sheriff’s Association, traffic safety organizations, drug treatment providers and physicians – met with legislators all week to dispel myths surrounding the bill and push for immediate passage.
Opposition claims that cannabis legalization is threatened by the bill are false. The bill has no impact whatsoever on cannabis. New York has been prosecuting cannabis-impaired drivers for 59 years. The Deadly Driving Bill does not change anything in that process. New York will continue to employ the actual impairment standard publicly supported by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) so unimpaired, regular cannabis users are not arrested. The bill establishes a safety net of the best, scientifically supported procedures and training and integrates New York’s body worn camera program.
The bill includes robust safeguards:
• A five-year period of study and review of the law’s implementation before it becomes permanent.
• Medical affirmative defense provisions.
• Integration with body-worn camera programs.
• Yearly legislative reporting to monitor enforcement equity.
To address racial equity in traffic enforcement in New York State, a five-year lookback revealed that roughly 70 to 75% of drivers that were arrested for drugged driving were white, 11 to 14% were black and 9 to 11% were Hispanic. The bill establishes a yearly report to the legislature to maintain equity and monitor drugged driving enforcement going forward.
“Few bills that the legislature can pass this session can be as significant and save as many lives as the Deadly Driving Law,” said Thomas M. Louizou, Strategic Roadway Safety, Retired National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Regional Administrator.
“New York, once a national leader in impaired driving prevention, must recognize that the loophole in this law is allowing visibly impaired drivers to avoid arrest and prosecution,” said Kelly Poulsen, Senior Vice President for Government Relations with Responsibility.org. “The Deadly Driving Bill (A3981a/S.6485a) is a comprehensive piece of legislation that will make New York roadways safer, prevent lives from being lost, and will again make New York a leader in impaired driving prevention.”
“AAA urges legislators to close the dangerous loopholes in the state’s drug impaired driving laws,” said John Corlett, Vice President, Public & Government Affairs AAA Northeast. “Drug impaired driving has been on the increase in recent years and legislators need to do their part to crack down on the reckless behavior.”
“Historically county STOP-DWI coordinators play a vital role in keeping New York’s roads safe. To continue this progress, we encourage NYS Lawmakers to modernize laws so they reflect today’s challenges especially regarding drug-impaired driving,” said Lindsay Tomidy, New York State STOP-DWI Chair. “Supporting A3981a/S.6485a would empower those making arrests and prosecuting visibly impaired drivers to act more effectively and prevent tragedies. With these updates, we can further protect lives and make our roadways even safer for all. This is crucial to honor victims of these violent crimes and work towards no more preventable crashes.”
“In the final weeks of the legislative session, I urge our lawmakers to prioritize S6485A/A3981A, also known as the ‘Drugged Driving Bill.’ The District Attorneys Association of the State of New York (DAASNY) has long advocated for this bill which would close a fatal loophole in our state’s drugged driving laws that allows drivers impaired by dangerous substances who do harm to others on our roadways to escape prosecution,” said Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, President, District Attorneys Association of the State of New York. “DAASNY has been joined in this effort by a coalition of over 50 statewide individuals and organizations, including public health associations, doctors, drug treatment professionals, victims, survivors, and others that year after year continue to urge our state’s lawmakers that the time has come.”
“MADD urges New York Lawmakers to honor victims and survivors of drug-impaired driving and support A3981a/S.6485a,” said MADD New York Regional Executive Director Paige Carbone. “MADD thanks Assemblyman Magnarelli and Senator Chris Ryan for authoring this proposal as well as Governor Hochul for including impaired driving prevention language in her proposed state budget. This legislation is long overdue to stop traffic violence, deter drug-impaired driving and save lives.”
“With new ‘designer’ drugs being developed on a steady basis, there is no practical method that all of the drugs available can be on a list at any given time. Therefore, for the public’s safety, the victim’s family need for closure, as well as for communities to feel heard, please remove the requirement for a drug to be specifically listed in the law, it is imperative that your legislative action be taken during this session,” said Judi Vining, Director of Long Beach Coalition. “The concept that New York State families are unable to receive justice in the very real possibility that they, or one of their family members or friends, could be injured or murdered by someone with a drug in their system not on the New York State ‘list’, should be unthinkable to all of us.”
“The New York Coalition for Transportation Safety is tired of telling victims of drugged drivers that they will not get justice for their loved ones,” said Cindy Brown, Director, New York Coalition for Traffic Safety. “Perpetrators should not walk away from vehicular deaths and injuries caused by their drug because officers can’t identify the specific name of the drug that’s been used. It should be sufficient to prove that drug use contributed to the death or injury.”
“EAC Network is proud to support the passing of Bill A3981a/S.6485a,” said Neela M. Lockel, President and CEO. “EAC Network is grateful to our legislators, Assemblyman Magnarelli and Senator Ryan for their efforts to push forward this Deadly Driving Bill. We also thank Governor Hochul for including this language in her budget. We hope the rest of our legislative body recognizes how vital this legislation is to protecting our communities and ensuring that we hold individuals accountable for being safe on our roads.”
Drugged driving fatalities have skyrocketed. Behind every statistic is a devastated family from every community across the state. And every crash represents a failure of the state to keep roadway users safe. It is a public safety and public health issue.
Drivers who are high on substances like bromazolam (known as street Xanax), nitazines, xylazine, (“tranq” – the animal tranquilizer), propofol (the anesthetic that killed Michael Jackson) Dust-Off, amanita muscaria mushrooms, kratom, any of the unlisted synthetic marijuanas or chemically changed Mollies cannot currently be prosecuted. And when drugged drivers are not stopped, there is no intervention, treatment, assessment, supervision or behavior modification to stop drivers before they crash and kill.
New York was the first state to prohibit drunk driving in 1910. The offense, known as “common law DWI,” does not rely on a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test. It does not require law enforcement to name the type of alcohol consumed by the driver. It does not matter whether the impairment is caused by wine, beer or liquor. The charge (Vehicle and Traffic Law section 1192.3) is based entirely on the observations and documentation of actual impairment by law enforcement. These arrests are made every day in New York. The dangerous driver is removed from the road and is not rewarded for refusing a chemical test. Likewise drugged driving arrests already require these observations. It is not a new provision. The only change would be removing the requirement to name the drug on a list.
Public safety demands this change.