New York State passes “Leandra’s Law” — toughest drunk driving law in the country

Here’s the scoop from CBS. (and ease up on those holiday drinks)

New York State today enacted some of the toughest drunk driving laws in the country. The crackdown comes after a pair of horrifying crashes involving mothers and children, as CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor reports.

It’s a nationwide problem, with nearly 12,000 people killed in drunk driving crashes last year – one fatality every 45 minutes.

The New York bill is named after Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old New York City girl killed in a crash last month after a friend’s mother allegedly drove drunk.

The bill passed through the Assembly, but Malcom Smith threatened to slow it down at the State Senate. In the end, Senate leadership decided Leandra’s Law is a little bigger than politics. The Times Union explains.

The bill, which was passed by the Assembly last night, hit the Senate floor despite yesterday’s suggestion from Temporary President Malcolm Smith that the measure would have to wait until after the deficit package had been hammered out.

“We talked about it with members on both sides of the aisle,” Smith said after the Senate stood at ease. ” … We didn’t want to get this mixed up in the politics of the DRP, and I agreed with that as well. Our intention was to try and do it all at once, but clearly this represents something totally different.”

State Senator Diane Sevino (D- Brooklyn, Staten Isle) spoke in emotional terms about the bill… more from the times union.

Sen. Diane Savino, D-Staten Island/Brooklyn, spoke with a quaver in her voice as she described spending her childhood with two alcoholic parents. “We have an obligation not to turn a blind eye to our family members who are alcoholics or drug addicts,” Savino said.

The father of Leandra Rosado, Lenny Rosado, was in attendance for the emotional 58-0 vote.  After it passed, Mr. Rosado received a warm ovation from members of the State Senate. A rare day in Albany to say the least.

UPDATE: Our own State Senator Marty Golden missed the vote for Leandra’s Law. T/h to the Observer.