Traffic Worker Assaults Bring Felony Charges

New York drivers who take their road rage out on traffic enforcement agents could face felony charges and up to seven years in jail when legislation signed by Governor Paterson protecting traffic enforcement agents takes effect this week.

Union leaders and city officials hailed the law yesterday as an important deterrent against attacks on traffic workers. "The message here is clear: If you touch a traffic enforcement agent, you go to jail," the police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, said at a rally at City Hall.

An assault on a traffic enforcement agent previously was treated as a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and $1,000 in fines.

Among those gathered at the rally were Council Members Simcha Felder and Kendall Stewart, two Democratic primary opponents of state Senator Kevin Parker, who was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor assault after allegedly punching a traffic officer who wrote him a ticket in 2005. The charges were later dismissed.

"There is no room for violence in society, especially from elected officials," Mr. Stewart said yesterday when asked about the incident. "If this bill had started two or three years ago, certain people wouldn't have been in office."

A spokesman for Mr. Felder, Eric Kuo, declined to address Mr. Parker's situation but expressed Mr. Felder's support for the bill. "People shouldn't be hitting traffic agents. It's a shame we need laws like these in order to keep them safe," Mr. Kuo said.

Mr. Parker was excused from a state Senate vote on the bill in June 2007 and told The New York Sun yesterday in an interview that he was absent that day because of a death in his family.

"I supported the bill and I think it's a great thing," Mr. Parker said. "No workers, let alone hardworking city employees, should be assaulted."