“Vince’s Law” Passes State Senate, Moves Onto Assembly

The New York State Senate has passed a law named after an elderly Onondaga County man killed by a drunk driver.

In a 57 to 0 vote, with one absence and five senators asking to be excused, "Vince's Law" made it through its first hurdle. Among those voting for the legislation included Senators Joseph Griffo, James Seward, Patty Ritchie and Dave Valesky.

"Vince's Law" was a bill sponsored by Senator John DeFrancisco in Syracuse, and is named after Vincent Russo, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2011. The driver, Michael Iannettoni, had four DWI related convictions in 17 years before the incident, and five in total. His conviction in Russo's death raised the number of DWIs to six.

If signed into law, drivers convicted of three or more DWIs in a 25 year period could be punished with up to 15 years in prison. The current law only supports multiple DWIs within a ten year window.

The bill has been sent to the Assembly for consideration.