Politics on the Hudson

   The Senate just passed legislation that would strengthen drunken-driving laws in New York by making it a felony for someone to be driving while impaired and have a child passenger. The vote was 58-0.

   Another provision of the bill would require anyone convicted of drunken driving to install an ignition-interlock system on their car, which prevents intoxicated drivers from starting a vehicle. They would have to have the systems in their vehicles for at least six months.

   Leandra’s Law, as the legislation is called, is named after 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, who died in a car accident in Manhattan last month while a passenger in a vehicle whose driver was drunk, police have said.

   Also cited in passing the law was a fatal crash on the Taconic Parkway in Westchester County last July. Diane Schuler of Long Island drove the wrong way on the parkway and killed herself, four of the five children in her vehicle and three men in an SUV. The autopsy found she was drunk and high on marijuana.

   Under the legislation, which Gov. David Paterson has said he will sign, it would be a felony to drive with a passenger under 15 while intoxicated with a blood-alcohol-content level of .08 (the legal limit) or above.

   Under current law, there is no additional penalty if a drunk driver has a child passenger. The penalty would be higher if a child passenger was injured in a drunken-driving accident.