Guv, DWI victims' families hail new DWI rule

Gov. David A. Paterson joined Thursday with other elected leaders and relatives of DWI victims Katie Flynn and Leandra Rosado just days ahead of the moment that an ignition interlock rule for convicted drunken drivers - one of the toughest DWI provisions in the country - goes into operation Sunday.

But Long Island's top officials, Suffolk Executive Steve Levy and Nassau Executive Edward Mangano, were split on how they'd pay for the implementation of the measure.

"We support the law but believe the state should pay for its implementation, instead of leaving that at the doorstep of the county," said Levy, who views the law as an unfunded mandate.

Nassau has no problem shouldering the cost.

"Drinking and driving has taken too many lives and broken too many hearts," Mangano said. "Nassau County will continue to do everything in its legal power to prosecute convicted drunk drivers. Leandra's Law will certainly prove to be another deterrent to this senseless crime."

Paterson was on hand to mark the start of the second provision of Leandra's Law, which requires anyone convicted of driving while intoxicated as a misdemeanor or felony - including first-time offenders - to install an ignition interlock system in his or her vehicle. The law was adopted last year after Leandra Rosado, 11, was killed in a car crash in Manhattan because the driver of the car she was in was drunk. Its first provision, which makes it a felony for anyone to drive while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs when children are in the vehicle, went into effect in December.

Paterson said the law seeks to protect children, "the most vulnerable" of potential DWI victims. He applauded Leandra's father, Lenny Rosado, of Manhattan, as well as Neil and Jennifer Flynn, of Long Beach, for pushing for tougher laws. The Flynns' daughter, Katie, 7, was killed by a drunken driver who drove the wrong way on the Meadowbrook Parkway in Nassau in 2005. The crash also killed limousine driver Stanley Rabinowitz who was driving the Flynns back from a wedding.

"People have fought back a number of personal feelings and anxiety to fight on and to try to eliminate this problem," Paterson said at a news conference at the Nassau police training academy in Massapequa Park.

Jennifer Flynn said she hoped Leandra's Law "affects the everyday person that's out there, so now maybe they think before they get in their car."

Rosado said the interlock provision of the law, which also makes it a felony to drive drunk with a child under 16, is "the final knockout punch that will definitely put away people who think it's OK to drink and drive."

To operate a vehicle with an ignition interlock system, drivers must blow into a device that checks blood-alcohol levels.

The law will require DWI offenders to install the global positioning system-equipped devices on their vehicles at their own expense and keep them there for at least six months.

State Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick), who has advocated for stricter DWI laws, said, "Drunk drivers kill. They're murderers. They kill people. They destroy families."

With Zachary R. Dowdy

The device

An ignition interlock device, which connects to a car's ignition system, measures the alcohol content of the driver's breath. It will not start if someone has an alcohol content that is .025 and above. State law prohibits driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or above.

Convictions by the numbers

Number of drunken driving convictions, according to New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services

NASSAU 2009

Convicted: 3,220

Convicted first-time offenders:2,519

SUFFOLK 2009

Convicted: 4,224

Convicted first-time offenders: 3,091