New York Lawmakers Look To Decrease Underage Drinking

by Rebecca Lewis | 05/23/2014 | 5:32pm

New York Lawmakers Look to Decrease Underage Drinking

New York lawmakers are once again pushing through a package of legislation to curb underage drinking for Memorial Day Weekend.

Memorial Day Weekend kicks off what is widely known as the "100 deadliest days for teen drivers." And in an attempt to help keep teens safe on the roads, State Senator Jeffrey Klein and Assemblyman Marcos Crespo are spearheading their "Card Hard Campaign."

The campaign seeks to crack down on fake IDs. Their legislation would allow businesses to confiscate fake IDs and require retailers who have been caught selling to minors to buy and use ID scanners. In addition, it would also make creators of fake IDs liable for any injury or damage that was caused by underage drinkers using those IDs.

This is the second year that the package has been proposed. Only one bill was passed the first time around. That piece of legislation increased the consequences of the use of a fake ID in the hopes that the new penalties would deter minors from buying and using fake IDs. But Assemblyman Crespo says the state should have passed all the measures last year.

"Since that day and now, there have been several high profile accidents involving young people and alcohol where young lives were lost," the assemblyman says. "And I don't like using this expression, but we told you so."

According to the National Safety Council, nearly 1,000 people were killed in 2012 in crashes involving teens between Memorial and Labor Day.

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