Politics on the Hudson

Following last month’s horrific crash on the Taconic Parkway in which eight people were killed, Gov. David Paterson later today will propose tougher drunk-driving laws when children are in the vehicles.

Paterson submitted legislation to state lawmakers that would make it a felony for individuals who drive while drunk or on drugs and have passengers under the age of 16. Currently, the offense is a misdemeanor or in some cases a traffic infraction.

In 2007, there were 9,480 drunk-driving accidents in New York and 344 deaths, with nearly 200 of the people killed or injured under the age of 14, Paterson’s office said.

The Child Passenger Protection Act would also require first-time DWI offenders who had a child passenger to pass a breathalyzer installed in their vehicle before the vehicle would start.

The bill would also impose heightened felony penalties when a child passenger in a car operated by a drunk driver is injured or killed, making the offense a violent felony.

Thirty-five states have child-endangerment laws that impose higher DWI penalties against violators who have children in the car, but New York does not.

On July 26, Long Island resident Diane Schuler entered the Taconic Parkway in the wrong direction and stuck an SUV head-on, killing eight people: Schuler, her three nieces, her daughter and the three Yonkers men in the SUV.

Police later said that Schuler’s blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit, and she had marijuana in her system.

On Tuesday, Sen. Charles Fuschillo, R-Nassau County, proposed similar new measures. His bill, sponsored in the Assembly by Harvey Weisenberg, D-Nassau County, would make drunk driving with children in the vehicle a class E felony with a penalty of up to four years.

If a child were killed in a drunk-driving accident, the driver would be charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, which would carry a sentence of up to 25 years in prison.

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