People of New York on Monday joined the US's Long Island agencies to demand a law to allow them to crack down on reckless, dangerous and impaired drivers.
Speaking about the proposed bill, named as the “Deadly Driving Bill”, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said that it is necessary as police personnel in New York state currently can only arrest drivers that are under the influence of a controlled substance named on a public health list.
This lets many off the hook-- such as those impaired by unlisted drugs like Rohypnol and xylazine, the flesh-rotting “zombie” drug commonly known by its street name “tranq,” Tierney added.
“When drivers use these drugs and drive while impaired... endangering everyone around them, they cannot be charged with drugged driving or anything else under the current state of our law because those drugs simply aren’t on this public health law list,” he said.
"That’s wrong.. (and) it makes no sense,” he continued. “The law doesn’t require police or troopers to name a specific type of alcohol that is impairing a driver...Is it beer? Is it rum? Is it gin? That’s not required under the law.”
Speaking at the press conference, Andrea Carpenter, mother of 22-year-old Timothy, who was killed in March 2023, said, "The monster who murdered my son was almost 40 years old, driving under the influence of fentanyl."
“That addict was driving a big, heavy truck,” she continued. “They had no chance... We don’t even think he hit the brakes.”
In the press conference, she also noted that the driver, Christopher Guzman, had an extensive drug history and had overdosed several times, including during the weeks just before the accident.
“With the law the way it is today, even if this addict had been stopped by law enforcement immediately before the crash, he could not be charged with drugged driving because the police would not have been able to name the drug that was making him so high and so dangerous,” Carpenter said.
“And that’s insane,” she added.
According to the New York Post report, Guzman was later charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter and other charges.
