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A new state law will increase the penalty for drivers with suspended licenses.

"Unfortunately, once a license was suspended, the old law did not allow significant additional penalties for individuals who continued to drive," said state Rep. Mike Christian, R-Oklahoma City. "This legislation puts some teeth in the law to give those individuals greater incentive to obey the law."

House Bill 2263, by Christian, creates the "Gaje Jeffrey Florence Act." The bill passed unanimously in both the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the state Senate before being signed into law by Gov. Brad Henry this week.

The legislation is named in honor of a six-year-old boy killed in Oklahoma City in 2007. A non-U.S. citizen whose license was suspended at the time backed into Gaje?s own driveway where he was playing, killing him.

Under the new law, an individual driving with a suspended license can face additional penalties, including an extension of the suspension, one year in the county jail and a fine of up to $2,000.

If an individual driving with a suspended license is in an accident that results in bodily injury to another person, the driver would face up to five years in jail and a fine of up to $3,000. If the accident results in a death, the crime is a felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to $5,000.