Brooklyn, NY – New Legislation Would Assume Hit and Run Drivers Were DUI; Reward Offered in Glauber Case

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    Brooklyn, NY – Following the devastating deaths of Nachman and Raizy Glauber and their newborn son, delivered prematurely following Sunday morning’s horrific accident in Williamsburg, two local officials have announced new legislation that will allow prosecutors to assume that hit and run drivers were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the offense and charge them accordingly.

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    The new bill was announced at a press conference this morning by New York State Senator Eric Adams and Assemblyman David Weprin and eliminates the possibility that a driver could leave the scene of an accident and sober up before returning to face any possible charges.

    “We are proposing a change in the law that would state if a person leaves the scene of an accident and there is serious injury or a fatality then it would be a presumption that that person was driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” Senator Adams told VIN News. “This would be one of the toughest DUI laws in the country but we need to address the problem of people who are intoxicated leaving the scene of an accident. An accident scene would become into a crime scene once a person departs after the incident.”

    The press conference took place at the scene of the accident, the corner of Kent Avenue and Wilson Streets in Williamsburg. Also supporting the legislation, which would be a modification to New York State Penal Law sections 120.04(a) and 125.14 and would be considered a class C felony, were Councilman Mathieu Eugene, Senator Daniel Squadron, Councilman Steven Levin, Assemblyman Joseph Lentol.

    At the same time Senator Adams announced a $15,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the driver of the 2010 BMW that hit the livery cab the Glaubers were riding in, as previously reported on VIN News.


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    20 Comments
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    myownopinion
    myownopinion
    11 years ago

    Everyone will cheer this new law until it happens to”one of us” than it wont make any sense.

    Balaboos
    Balaboos
    11 years ago

    Good idea but will never get off the ground…sorry. Too many variables

    Erlich
    Erlich
    11 years ago

    Many Jews say America is a Malchut Shel Chesed. That’s true of the government, often not of the judiciary (Rubashkin case, etc.), and certainly not of many of its citizens. There are a lot of immoral people, as the terrible tragedy in Williamsburg shows.

    11 years ago

    We are looking great senator adams offers $15,000 reward vs. Greenfeld plus another councilman a total of $5,000

    11 years ago

    is that even constitutional? what about Innocent until proven guilty?
    obviously we have strong feelings after what just happened in Williamsburg but it’s thinking with your heart not with your mind.

    Facts1
    Facts1
    11 years ago

    ” two local officials have announced new legislation that will allow prosecutors to assume that hit and run drivers were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the offense and charge them accordingly.”

    Another Government grab of or liberties, riding on our emotions.

    yaakov doe
    Member
    yaakov doe
    11 years ago

    Those that introduced the bill are guilty of pandering. There is no way the law can assume that because someone flees afrer an accident the driver was under the influence. For many other reasons a hit and run driver would flee, panic being one or having an outstanding warrent being another. Severe time for those caught driving under the influence, driving without insurance, driving without a valid license or registration makes more sense, but won’t get the press coverage.

    Maybe some good will come from this tragedy, but the proposed bill is not viable anbd Adams and Wep[rin know this.

    DRE53
    DRE53
    11 years ago

    looks like we’ve gotten somewhere and headding in the right direction. just take a look at the picture where i see zaloinim and aroinim shvitzers working together!

    what a Kiddush Hashem

    YonahLevi
    YonahLevi
    11 years ago

    They would probably put provisions in the law for those who turn themselves in to the police in a timely fashion. (ie lets say you get into an accident and you feel that the other party is being hostile) if you go directly to the police station, you wouldn’t be presumed to be driving under the influence because you could take a breathalyzer test there. This law would be important because under the current system someone driving drunk (let’s say like the person who hit the car that Glaubers were in) could leave the scene and be caught when sober and not face the more severe consequences than if they had stayed at the scene whilst drunk (if it couldn’t be proven that they had been drunk).

    pinay
    pinay
    11 years ago

    This would not pass Due Process provisions in the Constitution.

    Yaakov2
    Yaakov2
    11 years ago

    Lawmakers like to grab on to a foolish straw. Like every time someone gets shot, if it’s low profile no one cares but if it’s high profile everyone starts to “Burtche” to make tough gun laws -as though this stupidity could help

    Not every problem has a solution and sometimes only Hashem can protect us as the Gemara in Shabbos 139:1 says that us getting rid of our corrupt Dayanim is the ONLY way to solve this kind of problem.

    As for what #11 says:
    “A simpler, and more logical answer, would be to make the punishment for hit and run worse than DUI, making people stay since the consequences would be greater!”

    That’s simply impossible

    Because killing someone under DWI, makes you guilty of Murder or Manslaughter

    What can be a “worse punishment” than being found drunk in such a case?

    Why shouldn’t every drunk driver, who kills, run and try his luck, rather than face Murder or Manslaughter charges?

    This is a Catch 22 which has no answer. Pretending he was DWI because he ran away is unconstitutional and a “worse punishment” is also not possible

    The only answer is what the Gemara in Shabbos 139:1 says that we must get rid of our Corrupt Dayanim, to stop such Tragedies

    Ahuvah54
    Ahuvah54
    11 years ago

    All the annoying reasons I’m reading about why it won’t work are a severe lack of hakaras hatov. First of all, it’s a *proposed* law. It goes through a process in order to become a law; they don’t just utter the words and wow, it’s a law. So it could be tweaked.
    But it’s a great starting point, and so is the fact that Adams — who is new to the state legislature — and Weprin got out there and said something.