Acting Gov. Richard Codey has signed a bill into law creating stiffer penalties for unlicensed drivers in New Jersey who cause accidents resulting in another person’s death. The bill previously won unanimous support in the Legislature.

Dubbed “Christopher’s Law,” it is named for Christopher Williamson, a 12-year-old Cranford, NJ, boy who was riding his bicycle when he was struck and killed by an unlicensed driver in June 2004.

The driver, 64-year-old Tomas Pineda, was fined a total of $433 in a municipal court. The total included court costs and a contempt fine for failure to appear at an initial hearing, localsource.com reported.

At the time, New Jersey law allowed for a $203 fine as the maximum penalty for driving without a license.

The new law, previously S2144, allows an unlicensed driver to be found guilty of a third-degree crime, which would include anywhere from three to five years in prison and up to a $15,000 fine, or both.

Drivers also would need to wait a year before applying for a license again.

A separate bill in New Jersey would toughen penalties for driving without insurance.

Democratic Assemblymen Douglas Fisher of Cumberland and John Burzichelli of Gloucester have sponsored a measure that would permit police to have an uninsured vehicle removed from a roadway and be impounded. Currently, an officer may have an unregistered vehicle impounded. However, doing the same to an uninsured vehicle is not allowed.

While uninsured vehicles are often also unregistered, this bill is intended to clear up any uncertainty in the law.

A4212 is in the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee.