STATE OF NEW YORK
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7717--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
October 18, 2023
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Introduced by Sen. ROLISON Sen. ROLISON -- read twice and ordered print-
ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules --
recommitted to the Committee on Transportation in accordance with
Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to establishing
the offense of aggravated reckless driving
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new
2 section 1212-a to read as follows:
3 § 1212-a. Aggravated reckless driving. 1. A person is guilty of the
4 offense of aggravated reckless driving when such person commits the
5 offense of reckless driving as defined in section twelve hundred twelve
6 of this chapter and:
7 (a) has previously been convicted of reckless driving within the
8 preceding eighteen months;
9 (b) knows or has reason to know that such person's license or privi-
10 lege of operating a motor vehicle in this state or privilege of obtain-
11 ing a license to operate such motor vehicle issued by the commissioner
12 is suspended, revoked or otherwise withdrawn from the commissioner;
13 (c) in the course of operating a motor vehicle, causes physical injury
14 to another person;
15 (d) commits three separate violations of any of the offenses contained
16 in this title in the course of operating a motor vehicle on a public
17 highway; or
18 (e) operates a motor vehicle that such person knows or should reason-
19 ably know is unregistered or uninsured.
20 2. Every person violating this statute shall be guilty of a class E
21 felony; provided that this section shall not apply where the motor vehi-
22 cle operated in violation of this section or section twelve hundred
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13190-02-4
S. 7717--A 2
1 twelve of this article is a rental vehicle as defined in paragraph (k)
2 of subdivision one of section three hundred ninety-six-z of the general
3 business law or is owned by a rental vehicle company, as defined in
4 paragraph (c) of subdivision one of such section.
5 § 2. The section heading, subdivision 2, subparagraph (ii) of para-
6 graph (a) of subdivision 5, and subdivisions 6 and 8 of section 511-c of
7 the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 607 of the laws of
8 1993, are amended to read as follows:
9 Seizure and forfeiture of vehicles used in the unlicensed operation of
10 a motor vehicle and reckless driving under certain circumstances.
11 2. Any motor vehicle which has been or is being used in violation of
12 paragraph (a) of subdivision three of section five hundred eleven,
13 section twelve hundred twelve, or section twelve hundred twelve-a of
14 this [article] chapter may be seized by any peace officer, acting pursu-
15 ant to his or her special duties, or police officer, and forfeited as
16 hereinafter provided in this section.
17 (ii) The person seeking to claim the motor vehicle has furnished
18 satisfactory evidence of registration and financial security and, if the
19 person was the operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation of
20 paragraph (a) of subdivision three of section five hundred eleven,
21 section twelve hundred twelve, or twelve hundred twelve-a of this [arti-
22 cle] chapter, satisfactory evidence of payment of any fines or penalties
23 imposed in connection therewith; and
24 6. Where a demand for the return of a motor vehicle is not made within
25 ninety days after the termination of the criminal proceeding founded
26 upon the charge of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in
27 the first degree, reckless driving, or aggravated reckless driving, such
28 motor vehicle shall be deemed to be abandoned. Such vehicle shall be
29 disposed of by the county, cities of New York, Yonkers, Rochester or
30 Buffalo or the state, as applicable, in accordance with section twelve
31 hundred twenty-four of this chapter or as otherwise provided by law.
32 8. Any owner who receives notice of the institution of a forfeiture
33 action who claims an interest in the motor vehicle subject to forfeiture
34 shall assert a claim for the recovery of the motor vehicle or satisfac-
35 tion of the owner's interest in such motor vehicle by intervening in the
36 forfeiture action in accordance with subdivision (a) of section one
37 thousand twelve of the civil practice law and rules. Any person with a
38 security interest in such vehicle who receives notice of the institution
39 of the forfeiture action shall assert a claim for the satisfaction of
40 such person's security interest in such vehicle by intervening in the
41 forfeiture action in accordance with subdivision (a) of section one
42 thousand twelve of the civil practice law and rules. If the action
43 relates to a vehicle in which a person holding a security interest has
44 intervened pursuant to this subdivision, the burden shall be upon the
45 designated official to prove by clear and convincing evidence that such
46 intervenor knew that such vehicle was or would be used for the commis-
47 sion of a violation of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision
48 three of section five hundred eleven, section twelve hundred twelve, or
49 twelve hundred twelve-a of [the vehicle and traffic law] this chapter
50 and either (a) knowingly and unlawfully benefitted from such conduct or
51 (b) voluntarily agreed to the use of the vehicle for the commission of
52 such violation by consent freely given. For purposes of this subdivi-
53 sion, such intervenor knowingly and unlawfully benefited from the
54 commission of such violation when he or she derived in exchange for
55 permitting the use of such vehicle by a person or persons committing
56 such specified violation a substantial benefit that would otherwise not
S. 7717--A 3
1 have accrued as a result of the lawful use of such vehicle. "Benefit"
2 means benefit as defined in subdivision seventeen of section 10.00 of
3 the penal law.
4 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.