Two summers ago, a promising teenage girl was riding her skateboard home from work when she was struck by a drunken motorist. 

The girl died as a result of the pedestrian accident and the motorist, a local doctor, was charged with vehicular manslaughter but was later found guilty of only a DWI misdemeanor because he argued that he didn’t know he hit someone.

Despite the single count of misdemeanor, he was not convicted for the vehicular manslaughter nor was he convicted for leaving the scene of the accident. Although he is serving time at a local correctional facility, the ruling caused uproar in the local community who hosted a fundraiser and built a park in honor of the young woman’s memory.

It also prompted state legislators to propose a bill that will hopefully put a stop to what many legislators call an abuse of a legal loophole in the state’s law. The law is called “Alix’ Law” in honor of the teenage girl who lost her life unnecessarily. The law passed in the State Senate last year but stalled during assembly. Fortunately, it finally passed the House and is one step closer to becoming officially booked.

The legislation would not allow suspects in a hit-and-run to be cleared of leaving the scene regardless if they didn’t know that they hit something or someone. With the growing cases of offenders leaving an accident scene in upstate New York, the new law will give much needed help to police officers who struggle to keep up in finding suspected drivers.

Through local efforts, this much needed new law will be passed. As such, it is amazing how legislators and a local community can work closely to improve the safety of everyone in the state.


Keywords: Alix Law