Sixteen-year-old Christopher Bascom was hit from behind while riding a bicycle near his home in Schodack, N.Y. Investigators said the teen laid critically injured for at least a half an hour before being found. George Hadden, 43, who has four prior alcohol-related driving arrests, was charged with leaving the scene of a crime and tampering with evidence.
There have been numerous cases, such as this one, across the state, in which drivers have hit pedestrians or bicyclists, and literally left them to die by the side of the road. In many of these cases – especially if the drivers are intoxicated – they were actually able to escape more severe punishments by evading initial police detection.
Under current law, the most serious charge these drivers can receive – even if their victim dies – is a Class E felony, punishable by 1 to 4 years in prison. This is hardly acceptable when a human life has been lost as a direct consequence of the driver’s recklessness.
My Assembly Minority colleagues and I are supporting the Hit, Run & Hide Protection Act (A.4374) that would increase the penalty for leaving the scene of a fatal auto accident from a Class E to a Class D felony, and carry a prison term of up to seven years, nearly doubling the current sentencing provisions.
"Defendants who hit victims and flee the scene in order to avoid detection should not benefit from their cowardly conduct," said Rensselaer County District Attorney Patricia DeAngelis. "This law would ensure that offenders will face harsher penalties for their actions and will be held accountable for their inaction for failing to aid injured victims."
Since it was first introduced in 1999, the Assembly Majority has not allowed the Hit, Run and Hide Protection Act to come to the floor for a vote even though the bill has passed in the Senate. Between 1999 and 2002, 362 arrests have been made for leaving the scene of an accident in which there was a fatality.
For families who have lost loved ones in this senseless manner, no punishment these criminals receive could ever be adequate. The victims who were left to die by the side of the road can never be brought back. However, it’s the least we can do, as legislators, to make sure our laws harshly punish those who leave the scenes of fatal accidents.