Lawmakers Call For Stiffer Penalties In Hit-And-Runs After Fatal Crash In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some area lawmakers are calling for stiffer penalties for drivers who leave the scene of an accident after a Brooklyn couple and their newborn son died as the result of a hit-and-run crash in Williamsburg.
Sen. Eric Adams and Assemblyman David Weprin want new legislation that would charge hit-and-run drivers in fatal crashes with a felony.
Adams said the bill would give prosecutors the power to assume a driver fled the scene because he or she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash.
Lawmakers Call For Stiffer Penalties In Hit-And-Runs
"As it stands now, if this person leaves, sobers up and return the next day, you're just charging him with leaving the scene of an accident -- a misdemeanor," Adams said.
He said the new legislation would allow prosecutors to charge a driver who knowingly leaves the scene of an accident where there is serious injury or death with vehicular assault or vehicular homicide.
Nachman and Raizy Glauber, who were expecting their first child, were killed just after midnight Sunday when a BMW slammed into their livery cab at the intersection of Kent Avenue and Wilson Street as the couple was on their way to the hospital.
Their son was delivered by emergency cesarean section at the hospital, but died early Monday morning, according to community leader and family spokesman Isaac Abraham.
Police are still searching for the driver and a passenger of the BMW, who they said fled the scene.
Lawmakers Call For Stiffer Penalties In Hit-And-Runs
In addition to tougher penalties, lawmakers are also calling for safety improvements at the intersection, including traffic signals and cameras.
Currently, there are stop signs at the intersection. Police said it's unclear who had the right of way at the time of the crash.
The BMW is registered to a Bronx woman who was not in the car at the time of the crash, police said. Police have charged her with insurance fraud for letting someone not on her insurance policy drive the car.
A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the two who fled the crash.
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