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When insurance companies face less accountability, victims pay the priceBy Gary FalkowitzCommentsPosted onMay 5, 2026
My 14-year-old son, Ethan, who checked every box a parent would want their child to check, was killed on his way home from a celebratory dinner with his high school tennis team by a driver who was drunk and high and driving on the wrong side of the road.
As a father, my heart is broken. As a former prosecutor and attorney, I have committed my life to fighting for justice for Ethan, to helping my family heal and to do everything in my power to ensure that other families never have to experience the level of grief that my family experiences every single day. Ethan was the best of us: Selfless, bright, determined, and a friend to everyone. And he deserved to continue the path he had carved for himself.
And this is why I find Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposals, which would shield the type of driver who killed my son from full accountability, so offensive.
Allow me to be clear. This is about accountability. It is about deterrence. It is about safety. It is about making sure the next person who thinks of getting behind the wheel impaired pauses long enough to consider the generations and communities they could destroy.
Hochul says her proposals are aimed at uninsured drivers, those committing a felony, and drunk drivers:
“So if you’re driving drunk, driving without a license or committing a felony at the time of the crash or cause the accident, you should not get a payday,” Hochul said. “I’m not sure who can argue with that.”
However, her budget proposals taken as a whole would also significantly limit recovery for the innocent victims harmed by people committing serious offenses, including drunk driving.
Victims like Ethan. Ending joint and several liability, changing New York’s pure comparative negligence law, and barring access to the courtroom for individuals who suffer from serious but non-permanent injuries does not just target bad actors — it sweeps in the very people the law is supposed to protect.
Source: LI Press
