Angelica’s Law, named after the Holbrook teenager, aims to reduce reckless driving.

Angelica’s Law, which increases penalties for careless driving in New York and is named after a Holbrook teenager killed 16 years ago by an unlicensed driver and suspended seven times, takes effect Friday, the state Department of Motor Vehicles said Wednesday.

The measure, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in December, reduced from 10 to five the number of driver’s license suspensions required to charge a driver with a Class E felony of aggravated unlicensed operation.

A driver convicted of this charge faces a fine of $500 to $5,000 and up to two years in prison, according to the bill cited by the newspaper. Newsday in history last year. After four suspensions, drivers will be notified by the DMV in “bold and conspicuous print” that a fifth suspension or revocation for a traffic violation will result in them being charged with a felony, according to the 2023 history.

The bill’s namesake, Angelica Nappi, was struck and killed after a driver ran a red light on Highway 101 in 2008, the article said. The motorist faces only a misdemeanor, the state said.

“As of November 1, New York’s roads are safer thanks to this law in honor of Angelica Nappi, who was just 14 years old when she was killed by a known high-risk driver,” DMV Commissioner Mark J.F. Schroeder, who heads the Governor’s Committee on Road Safety. statement on Wednesday.

“More than a decade later,” he added, “Anjelica’s legacy is alive and well, with tangible good emerging from a terrible tragedy.”

Angelique’s mother, Dawn Riendeau, said in a statement released by the state: “(Friday) is a day 16 years in the making. Angelica’s Law brings us one step closer to creating safer roads and saving lives. Although there is still much work to be done, I am grateful for the progress that has been made in memory of my daughter. Thank you, Governor Hochul, for signing this legislation.”

Riendeau pushed for the Albany bill, which was first introduced in 2017.

In June 2023, after the bill passed the state Legislature, she told Newsday, “There were times when I wanted to give up, but I said, ‘You have to hold on.’ I had to make sure my daughter’s death was not in vain.”

And when Hochul signed the bill in December, Riendeau said in a statement: “Almost 16 years later, my fight for safer roads has been realized. I know Angelique is proud.”