Three new bills aimed at fighting opiate abuse, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident recently went before state representatives.

Representative Chris Markey (D-Dartmouth) recently filed a House bill on behalf of Bristol County District Attorney Tom Quinn to add trafficking Fentanyl to the list of crimes for which prosecutors can request a defendant be held for up to 120 days without bail under the state’s dangerousness statute.

Fentanyl is an opioid pain medication, similar to morphine, but up to 100 times more powerful, according to the National Institutes of Health.

"There is no doubt that Fentanyl has led to the increase in opiate-related overdose deaths. Clearly, trafficking in Fentanyl presents a danger to the community," said Quinn via press release. "Our office should be able to ask the court, when warranted, to hold someone trafficking Fentanyl as a danger to the public."

Officials said that drug dealers are intentionally mixing Fentanyl with illicit drugs, making the drugs far more potent and increasingly more fatal.

Markey also filed a House bill that, if passed through the state, would make reckless driving a felony punishable based on the severity of harm. The bill proposes three levels of harm.

• Reckless operation that results in no injury to another person: maximum five years in state prison if it is a Superior Court case, or a maximum 30 months in the House of Corrections if it is a District Court case.
• Reckless operation that results in serious bodily injury: maximum 10 years in the state prison if it is a Superior Court case, or a maximum 30 months in the House of Corrections if it is a District Court case.
• Reckless operation that results in death: maximum 20 years in state prison.

“Reckless operation of a motor vehicle is a serious crime that endangers lives and the safety of people on the roadways every day,” said Quinn. “That is why I proposed this bill to make reckless driving a felony with increased punishments, particularly when motor vehicle fatalities occur as a result of reckless operation of a motor vehicle. This is much more serious than a simple motor vehicle accident.”

Representative Antonio Cabral (D-New Bedford) recently filed a House bill that creates a new criminal statute for leaving the scene of serious bodily injury. The proposed new crime would carry a maximum five year state prison term if the case is in the Superior Court, or a maximum 30-month House of Corrections term if the matter is in the district court, said officials.

There is currently no statute that covers leaving the scene of a crash that causes serious bodily injury in Massachusetts, meaning that when it occurs, it is only punishable under the general leaving the scene of an accident criminal statute with a maximum punishment of two years in the House of Correction, said officials.