NY One Step Closer to “Alice’s Law”

Back in April we brought you the story of Alice Ross, the innocent bystander and grandmother from Queens who died as the result of a staged automobile accident that was part of an insurance fraud scheme. Of the three men involved in the scheme, one intentionally hit the car Ross was driving, which caused her to careen into a tree.

This type of fraud is very common in New York because it is considered a No-Fault law state, which means that insurers have to pay victims of an auto accident even if the victim was at fault.

According to WNYC News, several advocates, along with Assemblyman David Weprin, are urging the New York State Assembly to pass a bill that will make it a felony to stage a car accident; it’s currently only a misdemeanor which is surprising considering the potential for serious injury or death.

“I believe once Alice’s Bill becomes Alice’s Law, not only will consumers save hundreds of hundreds of dollars of their own annual premiums but we will save lives,” Weprin said, during a press conference at City Hall.

The bill was already passed earlier this year by the state Senate, but Weprin, along with AAA New York and the advocacy group, New Yorkers Stand Against Insurance Fraud, are now pushing for its passage before the legislature finishes its session on June 21^st.

Weprin noted that there are those in Albany that don’t think additional crime categories should be made law, but he also stated that there are over thirty sponsors for the bill in the legislature. David Schwartz, an attorney for New Yorkers Stand Against Insurance Fraud, noted that the critics who call the bill duplicative should analyze similar laws already in place.

Schwartz stated, “We pass laws all the time that are duplicative but they send a message to certain epidemics that are going on. Look at hate crime legislation. That, too, can be duplicative. But we passed hate crime legislation to stop hate crimes from happening.”