Member Center

Local News

Crack down on hit and run drivers

Posted: Dec 12, 2012 4:38 PM by Rebecca Taylor
Updated: Dec 12, 2012 5:37 PM


Bookmark and Share
Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

TUCSON - An Arizona bill increasing penalties for hit and run drivers was signed into law Wednesday by Governor Brewer.

The bill, nick named Joey's Law overwhelmingly passed the State House by a 60 to zero vote in April.

For many families of hit and run victim's across Arizona, this law is welcome news.

The family of Joey Romero was instrumental in drafting and promoting the bill.

The 18 year old Phoenix area high school student was hit and killed while walking home from work in 2010.

Romero's family and many others helped push for stricter penalties.

The passing of Joey's Law means that if you leave the scene of an accident you'll automatically have your license suspended for 5 years if the victim suffers serious injury.

If the accident results in death it will be revoked for 10 years, not including time served.

For Tucson mom Carolyn Mello whose son was badly injured by a hit and run driver, the law brings some relief.

Police are still looking for the driver.

"This is excellent news. If someone does a hit and run and leaves the scene of an accident they have no regard for another human they don't deserve a license, I don't think they could be trusted to drive again," says Mello.

Her son Manny Mello was thrown off his motorcycle October 20th, 2012 near the intersection of Columbus and Flower.

Police tell News 4, that the driver of a Toyota Tacoma traveling North on Columbus made an illegal left hand turn, cutting Mello off.

He suffered critical injuries.

A reward for information is being offered by the family, in hopes of bringing the driver to justice.

Call 911 of 88-Crime if you have any information.

Comments

KVOA.com is Social!

Most Popular

DON'T MISS THESE!

Thumbnail
FC TUCSON

Check out the latest events FC Tucson has scheduled.

Thumbnail
SEASON 4 HOPE

Help those in need this holiday season

Thumbnail
SUBMIT NEWS TIP

Click here to submit a news tip to us!

Thumbnail
NEWS 4 TUCSON ON FACEBOOK

Become a Facebook Fan!

Thumbnail
@KVOA ON TWITTER

Follow us!

Thumbnail
BECOME A MEMBER

Sign up on KVOA.com for newsletters, exclusive deals, and more!

Thumbnail
KVOA.COM LATEST CONTESTS

Win! Win! Win!

Thumbnail
KVOA MOBILE APPS

Get news, weather and more on your smartphone and tablet!

Thumbnail
TEXT ALERTS

Get texts for news, traffic, deals and more!

Thumbnail
KRISTI'S KIDS

Stories and videos with Kristi's Kids

Thumbnail
NEWS 4 TUCSON @ 4

What's happening on News 4 @ 4

Thumbnail
ADVERTISE WITH KVOA.COM

Let us help grow your business

Thumbnail
COMMUNITY CALENDAR

What's happening?

Thumbnail
KVOA PROGRAM SCHEDULE

What's on KVOA and when!

Thumbnail
CONTACT US

Contact info for our department heads

Thumbnail
FCC ONLINE PUBLIC FILE

FCC Public File of Records, Reports, and More

Thumbnail
MEET US!

KVOA's on air personalities!

Thumbnail
KVOA CAREERS

Work at News 4 Tucson

Thumbnail
RSS FEEDS

Complete feeds of all KVOA.com stories