A Republican Ohio lawmaker is pushing to starkly expand the state’s definition of vehicular assault by making it criminally punishable to cause serious physical harm to someone as the result of a minor traffic infraction.
Currently, vehicular assault in Ohio is a criminal charge only used in limited circumstances, such as drunk driving, reckless driving and construction zone infractions that result in serious physical harm to another person.
Under House Bill 653, any driver who causes “serious physical harm” to another person as the “proximate result” of any “minor misdemeanor traffic offense” could be held criminally liable.
That means drivers who run a red light, fail to stop at a stop sign, speed, or violate right-of-way laws and injure another person as the result of that infraction, could be criminally charged.
Prescribed punishments under the proposal range from a default first degree misdemeanor up to a fourth degree felony, including the potential for a drivers license suspension ranging from one to 10 years, depending on the circumstances.
“What we’re asking for, it’s pretty harsh and dramatic,” said bill sponsor Rep. Brian Lorenz, R-Powell. He conceded that the bill might have to change extensively in order for it to pick up support in the legislature. But, Lorenz believes opening drivers up to criminal penalties for causing injury due to a driving infraction would promote more cautious driving.
“I do a lot of running and biking myself and I’ve seen a lot of people (driving unsafely),” Lorenz told this news outlet. “We’re just trying to raise awareness of safety and just put something else out there to show that, ‘Hey, listen, we’re not going to allow distracted driving to continue to proliferate our society.’”
The bill, introduced in mid-August, has not yet had a hearing as lawmakers are on recess until after the November election. There’s little time left in the 135th General Assembly until the clock restarts in January.
One possible pitfall with the bill is the amount of additional workload it threatens to put on prosecutors’ shoulders.
Currently, when driving infractions result in an injury, the victim of the crash can choose to press civil charges on their own. By making it a criminal offense, public prosecutors would each year be roped into investigating hundreds, if not thousands, of car crashes and arguing a smaller number of those cases in court.
Asked about that concern, Lorenz told this news outlet that he’s had “some very preliminary discussions on that very topic.” He said even if the bill doesn’t make it to the inner pages of the Ohio Revised Code, he hopes that it starts a conversation and raises awareness about driver safety.
“If we can get some education out of it, and if we can raise some awareness out of it, and if one less person dies from this then we’re doing something good,” Lorenz said. “I think that’s the goal right there.”
Under Ohio Revised Code, “serious physical harm” is defined as physical harm that carries risk of death, results in permanent incapacity, disfigurement or acute pain, as well as any mental illness that requires prolonged treatment or hospitalization.
The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO.com.
