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New hit-and-run alert system launches in New York

Posted at 1:42 PM, Mar 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-19 13:42:42-04

A new hit-and-run alert system, inspired by Amber Alerts, was fully launched in New York on Saturday.

The alert system is named after Jean Paul Guerrero, a popular Latin radio host known as DJ Jinx Paul, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Brooklyn in December 2016. While he was crossing the street, Guerrero was struck and killed. His driver fled the scene and was not caught until about a year later.

City Council member and Transportation Council Chair Ydanis Rodriguez sponsored the legislation that put the system into effect.

“When a driver hits someone and doesn’t stop and call 911 to provide medical attention, we need to see it as a crime,” he said.

The system will send out information to the public whenever someone is seriously injured by a driver who flees, including the make, model, color and license plate of the car. The hope is that if people see something, they’ll say something and help the NYPD make quicker arrests.

“We have to make sure to stop the epidemic of hit and runs that happen in our city that take lives,” New York State Assembly Carmen De La Rosa said.