BILL NUMBER: S4774
SPONSOR: RYAN C
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to including within the
offense of vehicular assault in the second degree, the causing of seri-
ous injury while knowingly operating a motor vehicle with a revoked or
suspended license or while not holding a license and establishing the
offense of vehicular homicide
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to include in a class E felony of vehicular
assault in the second degree, the causing of serious physical injury or
death while operating a vehicle with suspended, revoked or no license,
and creates the crime of vehicular homicide, a class D felony.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill would amend section 120.03 of the Penal Law to
provide that a person has committed vehicular assault in the second
degree when he or she causes serious physical injury to another person
by operation of a motor vehicle while knowing or having reason to know
that his or her license or privilege of operating a motor vehicle is
suspended or revoked pursuant to subdivision two or two-a of section
five hundred ten or subdivisions one or three of section five hundred
ten-a of the vehicle and traffic law for conduct relating to the opera-
tion of a motor vehicle; or he or she is not duly licensed.
Section 2 of this bill would amend the opening paragraph of section
120.04 of the Penal Law, limiting the crime of vehicular assault in the
first degree to only those actions listed in subdivision one of section
120.03 when such additional aggravating factors apply as provided in
section 120.04.
Section 3 of this bill would add a new section 125.16 to the Penal Law
creating the crime of vehicular homicide, providing that a person is
guilty of the crime when he or she causes the death of another person
while operating a motor vehicle while knowing or having reason to know
that his or her license or privilege of operating a motor vehicle is
suspended or revoked pursuant to subdivision two or two-a of section
five hundred ten or five hundred ten-a of the vehicle and traffic law
for conduct relating to the operation of a motor vehicle; or he or she
is not duly licensed.
Section 4 of this bill provides that the effective date shall take
effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a
law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In recent months, more attention has been paid to the fact that drivers
with suspended licenses in New York State are still getting behind the
wheel - and killing people. Ten percent of all crashes in New York are
caused by drivers with suspended or revoked licenses, and 75 percent of
those drivers still get behind the wheel. In January 2018, 13-year-old
Kevin Flores was biking home from school in Ridgewood, Queens when he
was killed by a truck driver. The driver had his license nine times for
traffic infractions and had bragged about it on his Facebook page. The
perpetrator in this case was arrested multiple times in the past for the
same offense and was still driving improperly.
It is illegal to drive a vehicle on a street or highway without a valid
driver's license. The right to operate a motor vehicle is granted by the
state, and its use depends upon the motorist complying with the condi-
tions prescribed in granting the license. Currently, the most severe
penalty a District Attorney can seek in such instances is a misdemeanor.
Even with aggravating circumstances, the most severe offense is a class
E felony, punishable by up to four years in prison. Rarely are convicted
drivers sentenced to any jail time at all and are free to commit addi-
tional offenses. While we cannot turn back the clock on past accidents
due to driving with a suspended license, we can make it more difficult
for people to engage in this activity in the future. We must redouble
our efforts to make our streets safer, including bringing chronically
reckless drivers to justice.
This bill would make it a class E felony for drivers who drive unli-
censed or with a revoked/suspended license to or seriously injure or a
class D felony to kill someone in the process. This bill would apply in
circumstances where the license suspension resulted from reckless driv-
ing behavior, not economic hardship.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: S.3602 (Mannion) - Referred to Codes.
2021-22: S.1228 (Gianaris) - Referred to Codes.
2019-20: S.2149 (Gianaris) - Referred to Codes.
2017-18: S.3299 (Gianaris) - Passed Senate.
2015-16: S.2484-A (Gianaris) - Passed Senate.
2013-14: S.6386 (Gianaris) - Defeated in Codes.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.

Statutes affected:
S4774: 120.03 penal law, 120.04 penal law