The New York State Senate has unanimously passed Alix’s law, making it illegal to leave the scene of an accident while intoxicated.
Current law only requires drivers to report an accident if they know it caused an injury or property damage. Senator Patrick Gallivan (R-59) says the current law creates a loophole that allows a drunk driver to leave an accident, and later claim they didn’t know there was any damage.
“We must ensure that those who engage in reckless behavior that results in the death or injury of an innocent person are held responsible,” Galivan said in a statement.
The law is named after Alix Rice, an Amherst teenager who was killed by a drunk driver in 2011 while riding her longboard home from work. The driver, Dr. James Corasanti, argued he did not know he had hit a person, and was later acquitted on the felony charge of leaving an accident.
This is the fourth time the Senate has passed Alix’s law, but it has failed in the Assembly each time. This bill is being sponsored in the Assembly by local Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D- 141).
