By Hank Russell
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney and a 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 — introduced by Assemblyman William B. Magnarelli (D-Syracuse) and state Senator Christopher J. Ryan (D-Syracuse) — 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. According to the bill, it would “[alter] the definition of ‘drug’ in the vehicle and traffic law to include any substance or combination of substances that impair, to any extent, physical or mental abilities; defines impairment and intoxication; provides that refusal to submit to a breath test and/or oral/bodily fluid test shall be a traffic infraction; makes related provisions.”
As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, Tierney has held a series of press conferences calling for the drugged driving loophole to be closed, but those calls have been ignored by Albany Democrats.
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,” Tierney said. “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 people’s 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, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), STOP-DWI, the Automobile Association of America (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.
According to Tierney, the opposition’s claims that cannabis legalization is threatened by the bill are false. The bill has no impact whatsoever on cannabis, and the state 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 who 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, a 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, the 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 AAA Northeast’s vice president of public and government affairs, John Corlett. “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 New York State lawmakers to modernize laws so they reflect today’s challenges, especially regarding drug-impaired driving,” said New York State STOP-DWI Chair Lindsay Tomidy. “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 Michael E. McMahon, the president of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York.
“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. “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 the 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.”
“[We are] tired of telling victims of drugged drivers that they will not get justice for their loved ones,” said New York Coalition for Traffic Safety Director Cindy Brown. “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.”
Drugged driving fatalities have skyrocketed, Tierney noted. 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, said Tierney, there is no intervention, treatment, assessment, supervision or behavior modification to stop drivers before they crash and kill.
LILP reached out to State Senator Monica Martinez (D,WF-Brentwood), a member of the Joint Senate Task Force on Opioids, Addiction & Overdose Prevention and a cosponsor of Ryan’s bill. “Protecting New Yorkers from impaired drivers remains a priority for Senator Martinez,” a spokesperson for Martinez said. “ While the proposed legislation involves complex policy considerations best addressed through the regular legislative process rather than the state budget, the issue remains a priority for the Senate Majority, which is committed to addressing this matter before the end of session.”