BILL NO A04011
SAME AS SAME AS S01064
SPONSOR Gabryszak
COSPNSR
MLTSPNSR
Amd S1174, V & T L; amd SS120.04-a & 125.10, Pen L
Increases fines and penalties for passing a stopped school bus.
BILL NUMBER:A4011
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the
penal law, in relation to increasing fines and penalties for passing a
stopped school bus
PURPOSE: Provides for increased monetary penalties for passing a school
bus and applies criminal penalties to those who injure or kill a person
while doing so.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 Subdivision C of Section 1174 of the
Vehicle and Traffic.Law is amended as follows:
(i) increases the range of fines for passing a school bus for the first
time from a minimum of $250 and a maximum of $400 to a minimum of $400
and a maximum of $750.
(ii) increases the range of fines for passing a school bus for the
second time from a minimum of $600 and a maximum of $750 to a minimum of
$950 and a maximum of $1150.
(iii) increases the range of fines for passing a school bus for the
third time within a three year period from a minimum of $750 and a maxi-
mum of $1000 to a minimum of $1150 to a maximum of $1500.
(iv) requires that a person who injures someone while passing a school
bus be charged with aggravated vehicular assault and if a person is
killed in the incident requires a charge of criminally negligent homi-
cide.
JUSTIFICATION: The National Highway Transportation Administration
reports that each year, an average of 11 passengers under the age of 19
die in school bus accidents. Most of the most serious injuries and
deaths occur when children are hit by a school bus or by passing motor-
ists while getting on or off the bus.
More than 25 children each year die in pedestrian accidents involving
school buses. In fact, three times as many children are killed in school
bus accidents while getting on or off the bus than while riding it.
Pedestrians account for more than 40 percent of school bus-related
fatalities. Many of these injuries occur when children are boarding or
exiting the school bus, due to the driver's "blind spot," which extends
approximately 10 feet around the bus. These statistics clearly demon-
strate the importance of strengthening penalties against those who ille-
gally pass a school bus, and especially for those that injure another
person while doing so.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.10755 of 2012
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
4011
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 30, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GABRYSZAK -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the penal law, in
relation to increasing fines and penalties for passing a stopped
school bus
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. Subdivision (c) of section 1174 of the vehicle and traffic
2 law, as amended by chapter 254 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read
3 as follows:
4 (c) Every person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) of this
5 section shall BE SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING FINES AND PENALTIES:
6 (I) for a first conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less
7 than [two hundred fifty] FOUR HUNDRED dollars nor more than [four
8 hundred] SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY dollars or by imprisonment for not more
9 than thirty days or by both such fine and imprisonment;
10 (II) for a conviction of a second violation, both of which were
11 committed within a period of three years, such person shall be punished
12 by a fine of not less than [six hundred dollars] NINE HUNDRED FIFTY nor
13 more than [seven hundred fifty] ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED FIFTY dollars
14 or by imprisonment for not more than one hundred eighty days or by both
15 such fine and imprisonment;
16 (III) upon a conviction of a third or subsequent violation, all of
17 which were committed within a period of three years, such person shall
18 be punished by a fine of not less than [seven hundred fifty] ONE THOU-
19 SAND ONE HUNDRED FIFTY dollars nor more than [one thousand] ONE THOUSAND
20 FIVE HUNDRED dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one hundred
21 eighty days or by both such fine and imprisonment.
22 S 2. Subdivision 6 of section 120.04-a of the penal law, as added by
23 chapter 496 of the laws of 2009, is amended and a new subdivision 7 is
24 added to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02093-01-3
A. 4011 2
1 (6) commits such crime while operating a motor vehicle while a child
2 who is fifteen years of age or less is a passenger in such motor vehicle
3 and causes serious physical injury to such child[.]; OR
4 (7) VIOLATES ANY PROVISION OF SUBDIVISION (A) OF SECTION ELEVEN
5 HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR OF THE VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW AND IN THE COMMIS-
6 SION OF SUCH OFFENSE CAUSES INJURY TO A PERSON.
7 S 3. Section 125.10 of the penal law is amended to read as follows:
8 S 125.10 Criminally negligent homicide.
9 A person is guilty of criminally negligent homicide when[, with]:
10 1. WITH criminal negligence, he OR SHE causes the death of another
11 person[.]; OR
12 2. HE OR SHE CAUSES THE DEATH OF ANOTHER PERSON WHILE OPERATING A
13 MOTOR VEHICLE IN VIOLATION OF SUBDIVISION (A) OF SECTION ELEVEN HUNDRED
14 SEVENTY-FOUR OF THE VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW.
15 Criminally negligent homicide is a class E felony.
16 S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
