Pols Gather At UWS Scooter Hit-And-Run Spot In Call For Action

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — State Senator Brad Hoylman and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal hosted a press conference Wednesday afternoon at the Upper West Side intersection where actor Lisa Banes was recently hit and killed by an electric scooter.

The two elected officials used the event to call for the passage of legislation that would increase the penalties for conducting a hit-and-run specifically with an electric scooter.

Under the current law, the penalty for leaving the scene of an electric scooter crash without reporting it to the police is a violation if the crash results in a physical injury, or a B misdemeanor if the crash ends in a serious physical injury.

"Scooters have become a part of New York’s transportation infrastructure. Our laws need to catch up with the times," Hoylman said during the press conference. "If you hurt someone with a scooter and you flee the scene, you must be held accountable, the same accountability as if you were driving a car.”

The new legislation would make the penalties for conducting a hit-and-run on a scooter consistent with the law against leaving the scene of a car collision without reporting it.

"Lisa Banes's life ended tragically and publicly. She was struck by a negligent and reckless scooter driver who fled the scene," Rosenthal said during her remarks at the press conference. "In recent years, e-scooters have exploded in popularity, but the law regulating their use has not kept pace."

• Read More: 'Gone Girl' Actor Lisa Banes Dies After UWS Scooter Hit-And-Run

Upper West Side City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal also provided a statement to Patch about the death of Banes.

"Lisa Banes' death is an absolute tragedy and our hearts go out to her loved ones. What is especially devastating about her death is that it is part of a much larger problem here on the Upper West Side and across our city, of which we are well aware," CM Rosenthal said. "More and more New Yorkers are riding a growing range of motorized vehicles on our streets and sidewalks, from scooters to bikes to mopeds. The regulations governing these new vehicles are in constant flux, and the public is left largely in the dark."