An Act to increase safety on public ways

Lead Sponsor: Representative Michael S. Day
 

Impetus
The Commonwealth is battling an opiate epidemic and overdoses are on the rise. Many of these overdoses occur in or near cars on public roadways when users purchase narcotics and then consume the drugs immediately afterward.

Growing awareness of the effectiveness of the reversal drug naloxone and increasing use of the drug have meant that more people survive an overdose. While that is true, people who have been revived may continue to be in a compromised physical state after receiving the drug. Where first responders assist a person and the person's car is towed from the scene of the incident, there is currently nothing to prohibit them from being able to retrieve their car from a tow yard shortly after being resuscitated.

One concerned tow truck operator estimates that approximately 3-4 times each month he deals with this situation. Tow operators have no recourse but to release the car, even when the operator was revived only hours earlier with naloxone.

Need

• There is a mandatory period of impoundment in certain instances where a person is alleged to be driving under the influence of alcohol on a public way and their car has been towed. Currently, there is no such law where a car has been towed due to a drug overdose occurring on a public way.
• A mandatory 12 hour period of impoundment will provide the person revived the necessary time to recover from the effects of the overdose before they drive again on public roadways, protecting both the driver and the driving public.

Legislative Fix

• Provides for a mandatory 12 hour impoundment period where an incapacitated person is found to be the operator or in possession of a motor vehicle on a public roadway.