NY Makes DWI with Child in Vehicle a Felony, Adopts Ignition Locks

By Jim Greene

Published on December 14, 2009

Spurred by two tragic fatal accidents, New York State last week made driving while intoxicated (DWI) with a child in the vehicle a felony offense, punishable by up to four years in prison for the first offense. The same legislation enables courts to require an ignition interlock device (IID) for any DUI offender.

The bill is called Leandra's Law after Leandra Rosado, 11, of New York City, who was killed last month in the crash of a vehicle driven by a friend's mother, who was alleged to be drunk at the time. In July, four children were killed, along with four adults, when a woman police say had been smoking marijuana and drinking caused a wrong-way crash on a New York Parkway. One of the children was the woman's daughter; the other three were her nieces.

Although far more men than women are arrested for DWI, the number for women has risen by nearly 30 percent in the last ten years, and women are three times as likely as men to be in fatal DWI crashes with children under 14 as passengers.

The other major provision of the bill allows courts to order the installation of an IID in the vehicle of a DWI offender. It prevents the vehicle from being started until the offender has breathed into a testing device and passed a blood alcohol content (BAC) test. Once the vehicle is in motion, the device requires random retests; failure starts the car's lights flashing and horn honking to attract the attention of police. The alarm continues until the car is stopped and the ignition switched off.

The DWI offender must rent the IID from an authorized provider and pay for its installation and periodic servicing. Studies show use of the IID dramatically reduces repeat DWI offenses.

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