I am responding to the June 27 article by Albany attorney Eric Sills regarding Charlotte's Law, the proposed "three strikes" legislation.
I know all about this bill. I am the author of it. I have more than 25 years' experience as an analyst with the Department of Motor Vehicles. It is because of my background, and because my former mother-in-law, Charlotte Gallo, was killed by a repeat dangerous driver, that I crafted this legislation. Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, introduced it during this past session.
I am not the least bit shocked at Mr. Sills' opposition to Charlotte's Law. He is, by his own description, an "attorney whose practice focuses on DWI and related traffic law offenses." He makes his living defending many of those who create carnage on our roadways.
The individual who killed my former mother-in-law was a serial, dangerous driver with a history of 23 dangerous driving convictions and 10 accidents, seven of which involved a personal injury. None of these were related to drunk driving, but all are just as threatening to innocent law-abiding citizens on our roadways.
Mr. Sills' solution of an interlocking "blow device" mandated in vehicles for those who repeatedly drive drunk would have zero impact on those who don't drink and drive. Yet it would endanger lives in its disregard of roadway laws and the safety of others.
Alcohol-detection devices offer a false hope for roadway safety and have ended up being a costly proposition for taxpayers. Not only is there a $150 charge for the device itself, but a monthly charge of up to $80 per month. The kicker is that if violators don't have the financial means to pay for the device, and research shows many don't, the cost falls on the backs of law-abiding citizens.
Have you checked your health and car insurance costs lately? They are skyrocketing because we pay through our insurance premiums for the damage to property, vehicles and people, when serial drunk and dangerous motorists are allowed to keep driving.
I do agree with Mr. Sills when he says that alcohol-detection devices don't work if a driver simply takes a relative's or friend's car out for a deadly spin.
Under Mr. Tedisco's bill, someone caught driving who has had their driving privileges terminated would be subject to up to four years in jail — where they're not able to be a danger to other drivers or innocent pedestrians.
I'm heartened that Saratoga County District Attorney Jim Murphy and the statewide association of district attorneys have announced their support for the measure. Mr. Murphy has asked the governor's office to implement the measure unilaterally.
In 1994, I had the privilege of working on a project directed by then-Gov. Mario Cuomo. Like Charlotte's Law, it was a "three strikes" law that made it a felony if you were caught driving without a license three times. It is befitting that his son, the second Governor Cuomo, should also direct the implementation of a law to permanently take these drunk and dangerous drivers off the road. I am hopeful that he will.
Driving is a privilege, not a right. When drivers prove chronic in the abuse of that privilege and continually endanger others, it's time to take the keys away.
Linda Rozell-Shannon lives in Niskayuna. She is a former Department of Motor Vehicles analyst and president and founder of the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation.