(Long Island, NY) Assemblyman Dean Murray’s (R,C,I-East Patchogue) co-sponsored legislation to crack down on hit-and-run drivers passed the Legislature today and now awaits the governor’s signature. Assembly Bill 5266, sponsored in the Senate by Senator Rich Funke, establishes the crime of “aggravated leaving the scene of an incident without reporting.” With 13 fatalities due to leaving the scene of an accident Suffolk County in 2012 alone, Murray is hopeful this legislation will send a strong message that hit-and-runs will not be tolerated.
“Leaving the scene of an accident can lead to severe injury or death,” said Murray. “By strengthening the law against hit-and-run drivers, we can crack down and hopefully prevent these awful events. Now that this bill, which has languished for years, has finally passed both houses of the Legislature, I urge Gov. Cuomo to make our communities safer and sign it into law immediately.”
