Angelica’s Law, which increases penalties for reckless driving in New York and is named after a Holbrook teenager killed 16 years ago by an unlicensed driver with seven prior suspensions, takes effect Friday, the state Department of Motor Vehicles announced Wednesday.

The measure, which was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in December, reduced from 10 to five the number of license suspensions required to charge a driver with a Class E felony of first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation.

A driver convicted of the charge would face a fine of $500 to $5,000 and up to two years in prison, according to the text of the bill cited by Newsday in a story last year. After four suspensions, drivers will be notified by the DMV “in bold and conspicuous type” that a fifth suspension or revocation for a moving violation would subject them to a felony charge, according to the 2023 story.

The bill’s namesake, Angelica Nappi, was struck and killed after a driver ran a red light on Route 101 in 2008, the story said. The driver only faced a misdemeanor, the state said in its announcement.

“Starting November 1, New York’s roads are safer because of this law honoring Angelica Nappi, who was just 14 years old when a known high-risk driver killed her,” said DMV Commissioner Mark JF Schroeder, who chairs the Governor’s Committee on Traffic Safety. a statement on Wednesday.

“More than a decade later,” he added, “Angelica’s legacy is alive and well, with tangible good coming out of terrible tragedy.”

Angelica’s mother, Dawn Riendeau, said in the statement issued by the state, “(Friday) is a day 16 years in the making. Angelica’s Law brings us one step closer to creating safer roads and saving lives. Although there is still work to be done, I am grateful for the progress made in my daughter’s memory. Thank you, Governor Hochul, for signing this legislation into law.”

Riendeau pushed for the bill in Albany, which was first introduced in 2017.

She told Newsday in June 2023 after the bill passed the state Legislature: “There were times when I felt like throwing in the towel, but I said, ‘You have to hang in there.’ I had to make sure my daughter’s death was not in vain.”

And when Hochul signed the bill into law in December, Riendeau said in a statement: “Nearly 16 years later, my fight for safer roads has been put into action. I know Angelica is proud.”