On May 9th, prosecutors from various areas in New York State, including Suffolk County, the Bronx, and Queens, gathered to urge state legislators to pass the “Deadly Driving Bill.” This bill aims to prohibit people from driving under the influence of drugs or narcotics.
Under current New York State law, individuals can only be arrested or prosecuted for driving under the influence of drugs not listed in Section 3306 of the Public Health Law. This means that in order to prosecute someone for drug-impaired driving, law enforcement must first identify the specific drugs the driver has consumed and ensure that these drugs are listed in the Public Health Law. However, there are hundreds of drugs not listed in the law.
As a result, drivers can evade responsibility and prosecution by not disclosing the drugs they have taken to law enforcement and refusing to be identified. According to data from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research (ITSMR), the percentage of drivers who refused chemical tests doubled from 11% to 22% between 2018 and 2022.
Currently, Suffolk County Attorney Raymond Tierney, State Senator John Mannion, and the House Transportation Committee are proposing bill S.3135/A174, the “Deadly Driving Bill,” in an attempt to address these loopholes.
This bill would categorize all drugs that impair driving under the definition of “Drug” in the Vehicle and Traffic Law, aligning with the recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
As of 2022, New York State is one of the four remaining states still using a limited list of drugs.
At the assembly, district attorneys, families of drug-impaired driving victims, traffic safety advocates, and legislators stood together urging the state legislature to pass this law.
“No one is immune from being a victim of drug-impaired driving accidents,” Prosecutor Tierney said. “Under current laws… drivers clearly impaired by drugs cannot be arrested and prosecuted for driving, which is dangerous and must change.”
The number of traffic-related fatalities in New York, including those involving impaired driving, has been on the rise. In the past five years, deaths resulting from drug-impaired driving have surpassed those from drunk driving; from 2018 to 2022, drug-impaired driving-related deaths have increased by 35%.