Intoxication hit-and-run law amended
March 25th, 2013 by Kyle LoweAfter heart-wrenching testimony about two recent alcohol related hit-and-run deaths, the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee proposed new legislation. According to an article in the Austin American Statesman, the new law would close a loophole in current state law that allows intoxicated drivers to escape with less punishment if they leave the scene of a fatal accident. Currently a third-degree felony, Senate Bill 275 would make it a second-degree felony if a driver fails to stop and render aid in an accident involving death. Senator Kirk Watson, D-Austin, who authored the new bill, stated that because hit-and-run drivers are often intoxicated, they know “to leave the scene to avoid prosecution for intoxication manslaughter” which currently carries a potential prison sentence of 2-20 years. Failure to stop and render aid alone, whether or not a death is involved, is currently punishable by 2-10 years. Watson pointed out that drivers who flee the scenes of alcohol related collisions know that police officers will be unable to conduct field sobriety tests (including blood draws) that could immediately garner an intoxication related charge. Watson further stated that hit-and-run related fatalities are rising in Texas. Of 393 hit-and-run collisions investigated by the Austin Police Department in 2012, 12 involved deaths. Houston had 36 deaths and Dallas had 12. The Criminal Justice Committee unanimously agreed that the the increasing numbers of Texas hit-and-run incidents warrants a stiffer penalty. They approved Watson’s bill and sent it to the full Senate for debate and passage.