Senate Bill 275 Increases Penalties for Hit-and-Run Drivers

On Tuesday April 2, 2013 the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 275. This bill states that fleeing from the scene of an accident that has caused injuries will now be considered a second-degree felony. Austin’s democratic Senator Kirk Watson stated that because leaving the scene of an accident was only a third degree felony, many drunk drivers were fleeing from accidents to avoid greater punishments. The Bill will now go to the House for consideration. If passed, the penalty for such incidents could result in up to 20 years in prison and a 10,000 fine. 

I personally am in complete favor of this new bill. Although I honestly do not think implementing this particular bill will necessarily decrease the amount of accidents that occur; I believe it will most likely decrease the amount of hit-and-runs that occur. On average, every day four people in the US will die in an accident involving a hit-and-run driver. When someone flees from the scene of an accident, it often lengthens the time before emergency help arrives. This increases the risk of death when a person is seriously injured in the accident.

There are an infinite amount of cases where a person could have had the opportunity to live if only the driver would have not fled. The passing of this bill is good start into creating awareness of the importance of being responsible of ones own acts.  I also believe that government should enforce the city’s police department programs to pursue unlicensed and uninsured drivers who are the most likely to flee from an accident. It’s important for people to understand that many lives can be saved not only if we are more responsible drivers, but also if hit-and-run incidents decrease. 

I found this chart with very interesting statistics, sorry it's super huge, but it's the only way to be able to clearly read it. Scroll down..