Zackhary's Law Signed, Named For Ben Simmons' Cousin Killed In NJ

HOBOKEN, NJ — A statewide measure called "Zackhary's Law" was signed on Tuesday, creating a new alert system to catch hit-and-run drivers after they leave the scene. It's named after Zackhary Simmons, the late cousin of for 76ers basketball player Ben Simmons, who was struck and killed by a car in Hoboken in 2016 when he was 21.

On June 26, 2016, Zackhary, a Ramsey resident, had spent a night celebrating a friend's birthday party. He was walking near Sixth Street and Willow Avenue in Hoboken when he was struck and killed by a Cadillac Escalade around 3:30 a.m. Two days earlier, he had been present to watch cousin Ben get chosen as the first pick in the NBA draft.

After finding out Zackhary had died, Ben Tweeted, "Never forget the important things in life" and later, "I'm glad I could share this moment in my life with you. Rest in peace Cuzzo." The Tweets from his account are no longer available.

In 2018, a 51-year-old Brooklyn driver was sentenced to four years in prison for the incident, which had been captured on video. Later, Port Authority video captured the car entering the Lincoln Tunnel, along with its license plate, according to a story in NJ.com.

According to the bill's sponsors in the Assembly and Senate, the law will work like this:

• If there's a hit-and-run, a Zack Alert may be activated, as long as the agency has enough information to send out and they believe it will help catch the suspect.
• The attorney general will notify the New Jersey media of the system and invite them to participate. The media can voluntarily transmit alerts "that a person has been suspected of causing serious bodily injury to, or the death of, another person by knowingly leaving the scene of the accident."
• Law enforcement will notify the Department of Transportation, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the South Jersey Transportation Authority.
• Text message alerts will automatically be issued to every officer or employee of a public entity who possesses a government-issued mobile phone.

“With so many other drivers on the road actively looking for one car, it’s almost inevitable that someone who sees a Zack Alert would come across the suspect,” said co-sponsor Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen). “Drivers will have to think twice about leaving the scene of an accident if they know there’s such a high likelihood of eventually being caught.”

“I hope this law reminds drivers thinking of fleeing an accident that the whole state will be looking for you, and you will be caught,” said sponsor Annette Chaparro, a Hoboken resident (D-Hudson). “I want to thank the Simmons family for working so hard on this bill and sharing their time and inspiring this law to honor Zack and encourage other drivers to stop and help an injured person instead of cowardly fleeing a scene.”

The bill was also sponsored by Daniel Benson, Angelica Jimenez, Raj Mukherji, Joann Downey, Vin Gopal, and Nicholas Scutari. It can be found here.

It's not to be confused by Zachary's Law in Illinois, which pertains to identifying sex offenders.