Driven to Make NY Streets Safer

Rockland Daily Staff

On Tuesday, Angelica's Law was signed into law, better protecting New Yorkers from reckless and dangerous driving. 

The bill, sponsored by New York State Senator Kevin Thomas and New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, Jr. decreases the number of prior license suspensions needed to qualify for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree, a class E felony. Governor Hochul signed the legislation at the Department of Motor Vehicles’ Garden City location, joined by the family of Angelica Nappi who lost her life after being killed by a driver with multiple prior suspensions. Angelica Nappi of Holbrook was just fourteen in 2008 when she was struck and killed by a driver who did not have a valid license and who had more than five previous driver’s license suspensions. 

Angelica’s Law will help to keep drivers with prior suspensions off of the road by applying a felony to recidivist drivers who operate vehicles without a valid license after having committed five or more moving violations resulting in prior suspensions or revocations.

 “It is our mission at DMV and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again," says New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner and Chair of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee Mark Schroeder. "This law will put persistently dangerous drivers on notice.”