Bill Text: NY S04928 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires a study of the performance of the state's roadways in reducing the risk of motor vehicles departing the travel lane and overturning, or colliding with fixed objects, or colliding with motorized or non-motorized vehicles or pedestrians, or leaving the roadway; further requires the commissioner of transportation and the thruway authority to submit a report to the governor and legislature and prohibits any data from the study to be used in certain court proceedings.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-03 - REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION [S04928 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S04928-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4928
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                      March 3, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  DIAZ  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
        AN ACT to amend the transportation law and the public  authorities  law,
          in  relation  to the study and examination of the state's roadways and
          the thruway in reducing certain motor vehicle risks
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Section 14 of the transportation law is amended by adding
     2  a new subdivision 36 to read as follows:
     3    36. To study and examine the performance of the  state's  roadways  in
     4  reducing  the risk of motor vehicles departing the travel lane and over-
     5  turning, or colliding with fixed objects, or colliding with motorized or
     6  non-motorized vehicles or pedestrians,  or  leaving  the  roadway.  Such
     7  study  and examination shall include, but not be limited to, segments of
     8  the state's roadways with a high number of fatal crashes,  and  segments
     9  of  roadway  with  hazardous features such as steep slopes, embankments,
    10  cliffs, drop-offs or deep bodies of water. The commissioner shall submit
    11  a report on lane departures, utilizing existing data whenever  possible,
    12  beginning  no  later than August thirty-first, two thousand eighteen and
    13  annually thereafter, to the governor and the  legislature  which  report
    14  shall  include  but  shall not be limited to: (a) the number and type of
    15  travel lane departure crashes on the state's roadways including, but not
    16  limited to, fixed object, head-on, cross-over,  rollover  and  sideswipe
    17  crashes,  roadway departures, and those involving non-motorized vehicles
    18  and pedestrians; (b) the extent to which  the  department  has  analyzed
    19  crash data and identified and considered the safety needs of the state's
    20  roadways  including  but  not  limited  to  high-fatality  segments  and
    21  segments with hazardous features  such  as  steep  slopes,  embankments,
    22  cliffs,  drop-offs  or  deep  bodies  of water; and (c) the measures and
    23  strategies that the department has undertaken, or plans to undertake, to
    24  improve roadway performance and reduce the risk of motor vehicle  travel
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07214-01-7
        S. 4928                             2
     1  lane  departures and crashes.  No provision of this subdivision shall be
     2  deemed to conflict with  or  supersede  the  evidentiary  and  discovery
     3  protections and rights as provided for in federal or state law. Notwith-
     4  standing  any  other  provision of law, any reports, surveys, schedules,
     5  lists, or data compiled or collected for  the  purpose  of  identifying,
     6  evaluating,  or  planning  the  safety enhancement of potential accident
     7  sites,  hazardous  roadway  conditions,  or  railway-highway  crossings,
     8  pursuant  to  federal  or state law or for the purpose of developing any
     9  highway safety construction improvement project shall not be subject  to
    10  discovery or admitted into evidence in a federal or state court proceed-
    11  ing  or  considered for other purposes in any action for damages arising
    12  from any occurrence  at  a  location  mentioned  or  addressed  in  such
    13  reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data.
    14    §  2. Section 361 of the public authorities law is amended by adding a
    15  new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
    16    3. The authority shall study and examine the performance of the  thru-
    17  way in reducing the risk of motor vehicles departing the travel lane and
    18  overturning,  or  colliding with fixed objects, or colliding with motor-
    19  ized or non-motorized vehicles or pedestrians, or leaving  the  thruway.
    20  Such  study  and  examination  shall  include,  but  not  be limited to,
    21  segments of the thruway  with  a  high  number  of  fatal  crashes,  and
    22  segments  with  hazardous  features  such  as steep slopes, embankments,
    23  cliffs, drop-offs or deep bodies of water. The authority shall submit  a
    24  report  on  lane  departures, utilizing existing data whenever possible,
    25  beginning no later than August thirty-first, two thousand  eighteen  and
    26  annually  thereafter,  to  the governor and the legislature which report
    27  shall include but shall not be limited to: (a) the number  and  type  of
    28  travel  lane departure crashes on the thruway including, but not limited
    29  to, fixed object, head-on, cross-over, rollover and  sideswipe  crashes,
    30  roadway  departures,  and  those  involving  non-motorized  vehicles and
    31  pedestrians; (b) the extent to which the authority  has  analyzed  crash
    32  data  and  identified  and  considered  the  safety needs of the thruway
    33  including but not limited to high-fatality segments  and  segments  with
    34  hazardous  features such as steep slopes, embankments, cliffs, drop-offs
    35  or deep bodies of water; and (c) the measures and  strategies  that  the
    36  authority  has  undertaken,  or  plans  to undertake, to improve thruway
    37  performance and reduce the risk of motor vehicle travel lane  departures
    38  and  crashes.    No  provision  of  this  subdivision shall be deemed to
    39  conflict with or supersede the evidentiary and discovery protections and
    40  rights as provided for in federal  or  state  law.  Notwithstanding  any
    41  other  provision of law, any reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data
    42  compiled or collected for the purpose  of  identifying,  evaluating,  or
    43  planning  the  safety enhancement of potential accident sites, hazardous
    44  roadway conditions, or railway-highway crossings, pursuant to federal or
    45  state  law  or  for  the  purpose  of  developing  any  highway   safety
    46  construction  improvement  project  shall not be subject to discovery or
    47  admitted into evidence in a federal or state court proceeding or consid-
    48  ered for other purposes in any  action  for  damages  arising  from  any
    49  occurrence  at  a  location  mentioned  or  addressed  in  such reports,
    50  surveys, schedules, lists, or data.
    51    § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
    52  have become a law.