N.Y. Lawmakers Propose State Version of ‘Jason’s Law’

A bill in the New York State Legislature would create a system of loans and tax incentives for businesses willing to build safe parking facilities for truck drivers.

Sponsored by two Republican state lawmakers, Assemblyman Peter Lopez and Senator James Seward, the bill is being dubbed the state version of “Jason’s Law.”

That proposed federal law, introduced last year in the U.S. House and Senate, is named after Jason Rivenburg, a driver from upstate New York who was robbed and shot to death in 2009 shortly after pulling off a South Carolina highway to rest in an abandoned gas station parking lot.

The New York proposal would create a loan fund to help businesses along highways, such as truck stops, build parking facilities where drivers could sleep.

The bill would also grant tax credits to shippers and receivers willing to build safe, secure truck parking facilities for drivers who often must wait long hours until loading docks open.