STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7306
IN SENATE
January 5, 2018
___________
Introduced by Sen. HELMING -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to mandatory
testing in the event of a motor vehicle collision resulting in injury
or death; and to amend a chapter of the laws of 2017, amending the
vehicle and traffic law relating to mandatory testing in the event of
a motor vehicle collision resulting in injury or death, as proposed in
legislative bills numbers S. 5562-A and A. 7572, in relation to the
effectiveness thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 603-a of the
2 vehicle and traffic law, as added by a chapter of the laws of 2017,
3 amending the vehicle and traffic law relating to mandatory testing in
4 the event of a motor vehicle collision resulting in injury or death, as
5 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 5562-A and A. 7572, is amended
6 to read as follows:
7 (b) When present at the scene of such accident, the investigating
8 officer shall also request that all operators of motor vehicles involved
9 in such accident submit to [a] field [sobriety test] testing as defined
10 in section eleven hundred ninety-four of this chapter provided there are
11 reasonable grounds to believe such motor vehicle operator committed a
12 serious traffic violation in the same accident. [Upon refusal to submit
13 to such testing, such person shall be subject to the provisions of
14 section eleven hundred ninety-four of this chapter.] The results of such
15 field [sobriety and chemical tests] testing or [refusals] refusal of
16 such [tests] testing shall be included in the police investigation
17 report. For the purposes of this section, "serious traffic violation"
18 shall mean operating a motor vehicle in violation of any of the follow-
19 ing provisions of this chapter: articles twenty-three, twenty-four,
20 twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-eight, twenty-nine and thirty and
21 sections five hundred eleven, six hundred and twelve hundred twelve.
22 § 2. Clause (A) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 1194 of
23 the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by a chapter of the laws of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00154-04-8
S. 7306 2
1 2017, amending the vehicle and traffic law relating to mandatory testing
2 in the event of a motor vehicle collision resulting in injury or death,
3 as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 5562-A and A. 7572, is
4 amended to read as follows:
5 (A) such person having been placed under arrest [or having driven a
6 vehicle involved in an accident resulting in serious physical injury to,
7 or the death of, another person and, pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdi-
8 vision one of section six hundred three-a of this chapter, there are
9 reasonable grounds to believe such person has committed a serious traf-
10 fic violation as defined by such paragraph]; or
11 § 3. Subparagraphs 2 and 3 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of
12 section 1194 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by a chapter of
13 the laws of 2017, amending the vehicle and traffic law relating to
14 mandatory testing in the event of a motor vehicle collision resulting in
15 injury or death, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 5562-A and
16 A. 7572, are amended to read as follows:
17 (2) The report of the police officer shall set forth reasonable
18 grounds to believe such arrested person or such detained person under
19 the age of twenty-one had been driving in violation of any subdivision
20 of section eleven hundred ninety-two or eleven hundred ninety-two-a of
21 this article, that said person had refused to submit to such chemical
22 test, and that no chemical test was administered pursuant to the
23 requirements of subdivision three of this section. The report shall be
24 presented to the court upon arraignment of an arrested person [or a
25 person arrested or issued an appearance ticket for a serious traffic
26 violation committed in the same accident being investigated pursuant to
27 paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section six hundred three-a of this
28 chapter], provided, however, in the case of a person under the age of
29 twenty-one, for whom a test was authorized pursuant to the provisions of
30 subparagraph two or three of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, and who
31 has not been placed under arrest for a violation of any of the
32 provisions of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article, such
33 report shall be forwarded to the commissioner within forty-eight hours
34 in a manner to be prescribed by the commissioner, and all subsequent
35 proceedings with regard to refusal to submit to such chemical test by
36 such person shall be as set forth in subdivision three of section eleven
37 hundred ninety-four-a of this article.
38 (3) For persons placed under arrest for a violation of any subdivision
39 of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article [or placed under
40 arrest or issued an appearance ticket for a serious traffic violation
41 committed in the same accident being investigated pursuant to paragraph
42 (b) of subdivision one of section six hundred three-a of this chapter],
43 the license or permit to drive and any non-resident operating privilege
44 shall, upon the basis of such written report, be temporarily suspended
45 by the court without notice pending the determination of a hearing as
46 provided in paragraph (c) of this subdivision. Copies of such report
47 must be transmitted by the court to the commissioner and such transmit-
48 tal may not be waived even with the consent of all the parties. Such
49 report shall be forwarded to the commissioner within forty-eight hours
50 of such arraignment.
51 § 4. Subparagraphs 1, 2 and 3 of paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of
52 section 1194 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by a chapter of
53 the laws of 2017, amending the vehicle and traffic law relating to
54 mandatory testing in the event of a motor vehicle collision resulting in
55 injury or death, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.5562-A and
56 A.7572, are amended to read as follows:
S. 7306 3
1 (1) did the police officer have reasonable grounds to believe that
2 such person had been driving in violation of any subdivision of section
3 eleven hundred ninety-two of this article [or was driving a vehicle
4 involved in an accident being investigated pursuant to paragraph (b) of
5 subdivision one of section six hundred three-a of this chapter]; (2) did
6 the police officer make a lawful arrest of such person [or issue a
7 lawful appearance ticket to, or make a lawful arrest of, such person for
8 a serious traffic violation committed in the same accident being inves-
9 tigated pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section six
10 hundred three-a of this chapter]; (3) was such person given sufficient
11 warning, in clear or unequivocal language, prior to such refusal that
12 such refusal to submit to such chemical test or any portion thereof,
13 would result in the immediate suspension and subsequent revocation of
14 such person's license or operating privilege whether or not such person
15 is found guilty of the charge for which the arrest was made [or the
16 appearance ticket was issued]; and
17 § 5. Section 3 of a chapter of the laws of 2017, amending the vehicle
18 and traffic law relating to mandatory testing in the event of a motor
19 vehicle collision resulting in injury or death, as proposed in legisla-
20 tive bills numbers S.5562-A and A.7572, is amended to read as follows:
21 § 3. This act shall take effect on the [thirtieth] ninetieth day after
22 it shall have become a law.
23 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however that
24 sections one, two, three and four of this act shall take effect on the
25 same date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2017,
26 amending the vehicle and traffic law relating to mandatory testing in
27 the event of a motor vehicle collision resulting in injury or death, as
28 proposed in legislative bills numbers S.5562-A and A.7572, takes effect.