Fatal crash spurs legislative action

Friday, December 05, 2008
By Trish G. Graber
tgraber@sjnewsco.com

Resulting from a Gloucester County tragedy, Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed "Mackay's Law" Thursday, a measure to protect families of car crash victims against paying exorbitant towing and storage fees following an accident.

The law stems from the June 2006 death of Daniel Mackay, 18, of Mantua Township, killed in an auto accident a week before his graduation from Clearview High School.

Mackay was a passenger in a car traveling on I-295 in Bellmawr when both he and the 18-year-old driver took their eyes off the road to check out a motorcycle on the interstate, and the vehicle veered into oncoming traffic, according to family and police accounts. Neither man survived the crash.

"I went from planning a graduation to planning a funeral," Mackay's mother, Kathy Corsini, told the Times last year.

In the days immediately following his death, Mackay's family did not seek out the crushed vehicle in which he was traveling, nor were they contacted by the towing company. Corsini said she believed it had been hauled off to a junk yard.

But a week later Ð and two days after Mackay's funeral Ð the family tracked down the car and were handed a towing and storage bill for $640.90.

"There is something fundamentally wrong when a grief-stricken family has to physically track down the car in which a loved one was killed and then is handed an excessive bill," said Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-3, of Paulsboro, who sponsored the measure.

Under Mackay's law, which takes effect April 1, 2009, vehicle towing and storage fees will be capped at $100 for the first 72 hours following a crash in which the owner is killed or seriously injured.

The law also requires law enforcement to provide next-of-kin with the contact information of the towing company storing the vehicle and provide relatives with written information on how to obtain an accident report.

"Unfortunately, it took the Mackays' experience to bring to light a major shortcoming in the way state law treated families who lost loved ones in horrific accidents," said Sen. Stephen Sweeney, D-3, of West Deptford, who sponsored the measure in the Senate. "Now we can spare families in mourning from the indignity of having to pay for closure."

The bill was also sponsored by Assemblyman Doug Fisher, D-3, of Bridgeton, and Assemblyman Nelson Albano, D-1, of Vineland.

A private bill-signing ceremony was held Thursday in the governor's office. Corsini could not be reached for comment.

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