State Senator Hugh T. Farley (R, C, I – Schenectady) reported the New York State Senate recently passed a bill toughening the penalties for leaving the scene of a boating accident without making a report. The bill (S.339) is in response to serious boating accidents that have happened in recent years.

The bill would increase the penalty to an A misdemeanor for a first offense of leaving the scene of a boating accident when a person knows or should know there has been an injury to another person. A second offense within five years of the first offense would be a felony.

The bill also would stiffen the penalties for the crime of leaving the scene of a boating accident, that resulted in property damage, without reporting it.

The bill has been sent to the Assembly