SLOW down: New NY Law Would Raise Penalties for Drivers Who Scare, Hurt Highway Workers

Drivers who hurt or threaten highway workers would face new and stiffer penalties under a proposal in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state budget.

The SLOW Act – Slow Down and Look Out for Highway Workers and Pedestrians – also would increase fines against drivers who injure pedestrians and cyclists.

In the past five years, the state’s Department of Transportation has recorded more than 900 incidents where drivers assaulted highway workers or intruded into workspace, according to Cuomo’s office.

The new law would:

• Create a new felony-level crime called “menacing a highway worker.” A person would be charged if he or she intentionally makes a highway worker fear death or physical injury.

• Automatically suspend driver’s licenses for six months for anyone found guilty of assault or menacing against a highway worker. This suspension would apply to drivers convicted of felony and misdemeanor levels assault and menacing.

• Create a new misdemeanor crime called “intrusion into an active work zone." This means to penalize drivers who enter an active work zone without direction from a highway worker or a traffic control device. The crime would be a misdemeanor and carry the possibility of $250 to $500 in fines and up to three months in jail.

• Increase penalties for a violent action against highway workers, motor vehicle inspectors and motor carrier investigators. This crime would become a felony assault crime, up from the current misdemeanor crime.

• Increase fines for drivers who don’t exercise care and cause injury to pedestrians or cyclists. The current fine is $500 for causing an injury and $750 for causing a serious injury. The new fines would be $1,000 involving an injury and $1,500 involving a serious injury.

• Clarify that it’s up to the driver to move his or her vehicle out of traffic after a minor accident. This is meant to help first responders get to the accident and clear other vehicles or debris.