November 17, 2009

     New York legislative leaders have agreed to toughen state laws against people who drive drunk with children in the car.
     The news comes just days after 26-year-old Tabitha Morris of Painted Post allegedly drove drunk and crashed on County Road 100 in Tuscarora last week.  Morris' two-year-old child was sitting in the back seat.  No one was seriously injured, but others in this situation haven't been so lucky.
     In July, Diane Schuler was allegedly drunk and high when she crashed after driving the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway in Westchester -- killing herself, four kids in her car, and three others in the car she hit.
     And just last month, another DWI crash downstate -- this time, Carmen Huertas crashed her station wagon full of young girls on their way to a sleepover.  11-year-old Leandra Rosado died in that crash.
     “It’s become a pretty common event now,” said Steuben County Sheriff Joel Ordway.
     Ordway and the New York State Sheriff’s Association are putting their support behind a state bill called Leandra’s Law.  It would toughen state law to make driving drunk with a child under 15-years-old a felony instead of a misdemeanor.
     “It would be another tool in our toolbox to help enforce this and send a message that if you choose to drive drunk, let's not add victims to it,” said Ordway.
     Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says the Assembly's version of Leandra's Law would be the toughest in the nation.
     In a strange turn of events, the passenger in Tabitha Morris' was also arrested, because he's a fugitive from Texas.  Morris is free on $1,000 bail.