CT Man Driving Drunk With Two Kids On Board Crashes Car In NY
On May 25, 2020, a 25-year-old man was arrested following a single-vehicle crash in which he allegedly was driving drunk at twice the legal limit with two small children in the vehicle. The crash took place in Westchester County around 5:10 p.m., on I-95, in Rye, said the New York State Police. The driver of the vehicle, Connecticut resident Bryan J. Salbador, 25, of New Haven, was allegedly found to be intoxicated while traveling with a 5-year old and 11-month old child in the car, state police said. The children were turned over to a responsible adult and Salbador was taken into custody and processed where his blood alcohol content was determined to be 0.18 percent. In New York, the legal limit is .08 blood alcohol content. Salbador was charged with aggravated DWI with a child in a vehicle. He was released to a sober third party and issued appearance tickets returnable to the City of Rye Court on Friday, May 29. Although at this point, it appears that he is only being charged with felony DWI, if the children in the car were injured, he can be charged with vehicular assault.
Leandra's Law (Child Passenger Protection Act) is a New York State law making it an automatic felony on the first offense to drive drunk with a person age 15 or younger inside the vehicle, and setting the blood alcohol content, or BAC, at 0.08. Leandra’s Law, named for 11-year-old Leandra Rosado who died in a 2009 car accident with a drunk mother behind the wheel, was passed in 2009. Our Westchester county drunk driving personal injury lawyers, know all too well how serious injuries can be with a drunk driver, since drunk drivers often drive at excessive speeds and have slower reaction times when compared to other drivers whose ability to drive is not impaired by alcohol.
It was hailed in the state senate as “the toughest in the nation” as it allowed a felony charge for drunk drivers transporting passengers age 15 and under. But prosecutors have leeway in court and data obtained from the state show they’re increasingly using it.
According to data provided by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, 69.5 percent of drivers statewide charged under Leandra’s Law were convicted of a felony in 2011, the first full year of cases in court. But the felony conviction rate has steadily declined – to 52 percent in 2016.
Our Westchester personal injury lawyers who represent victims in drunk driving accidents know how tragic an injury or wrongful death can be when the driver is intoxicated. In the case where a child is injured in a drunk driving accident caused by a parent, they have the right to sue the parent and the case can be brought by the other parent. While people usually have a visceral initial reaction as to suing a parent, the reality is that the one who is paying is actually the insurance carrier for the vehicle, not the parent. So there is no reason to have children suffer with injuries, and not be compensated because you do not want to sue a spouse.
If you or your child were injured in a drunk driving accident in New York City or Westchester, call our drunk driving accident personal injury lawyers for a free consultation. We have offices in White Plains and in Midtown Manhattan.