ALL NY FAMILIES DESERVE BETTER! Let's make NY history together! Demand enactment of the Grieving Families Act!

On August 11, 2024, my only child was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident when a negligent motorist cut him off in his lane of travel, causing a fatal collision. While this reckless driver was issued a mere traffic ticket for failing to yield the right-of-way and went home to her children, I was tasked with writing my son’s obituary and will return home to his urn for the rest of my life. I'll never see my son get married, nor will I ever experience the joy of grandchildren.

New York's current, yet antiquated, wrongful death statute's anachronistic language is wholly inadequate for New York families in 2025. At 178 years old, it grossly fails to reflect the monumental societal changes that have occurred since 1847. The current law perpetuates the negative impact upon children, seniors, women and minorities - citizens who are already systemically undervalued yet comprise a vast majority of families in New York today. As it presently stands, families are deprived of compensation for their unbearable grief, emotional turmoil, and profound suffering following the heart wrenching loss of a loved one due to the negligent actions of another in wholly preventable "accidents."

New York is one of only two states left in the U.S. who have NOT enacted a version of the Grieving Families Act for it's citizens. We urge Governor Hochul to reconsider her position on the Grieving Families Act, and sign into law Senate S4423 and Assembly A6063 for the benefit of all New York families.  This enactment would serve as a beacon of hope for families like mine - brutally scarred families that have been abandoned by an archaic statute that no longer serves the best interest of New York families. The Grieving Families Act would finally provide a platform for our voices to be heard, and our enduring grief emotional suffering to be acknowledged. Grieving families don't just lose their loved one once. We lose them in many ways every single day. We're reminded that the slate of our future with our loved one was wiped clean by the permissible negligence of another and the abandonment by justice system.

The Grieving Families Act, by proposed amendment in February 2025, will allow the appointed representative of the decedent to maintain a civil action for damages causing the death against a person who would have been liable to the decedent by reason of such wrongful conduct if death had not ensued.  In such action, the Grieving Families Act will allow, in addition to any other lawful element of recoverable damages, compensation recovery for, in part: (1) reasonable funeral expenses...; (2) reasonable expenses for medical care incident to the injury causing death...; grief or anguish caused by the decedent's death; (4) other pecuniary injuries, including loss of services, support, assistance, and loss or diminishment of inheritance resulting from the death; and (5) loss of nurture, guidance, counsel, advice, training, companionship and education resulting from the decedent's death.

The Grieving Families Act, upon enactment, will apply to all causes of action that accrue on or after July 1, 2022.

It's time for New York’s lawmakers to align with 48 other US states to promote a future where ACCOUNTABILITY reigns in the face of wrongful deaths, and where JUSTICE is championed above negligence. It's time for all New Yorkers to unite and demand change. It's time for our profound grief and emotion turmoil and trauma to be acknowledged, heard, and acted upon. Please join us in this fight and sign this petition to encourage the enactment of the Grieving Families Act because every member of all New York families matters!

On August 11, 2024, it was my only child. Tomorrow it can be YOUR child, YOUR sibling, YOUR loved one, and there will be nothing you can do about it, unless the Grieving Families Act is enacted.

Anyone in any state can sign!  Please sign now.

Thank you.