Relates to the requirement of exercising due care in the operation of a motor vehicle to avoid colliding with any bicyclist, pedestrian or domestic animal; provides penalties for causing physical injury by failing to exercise due care.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7917--D
Cal. No. 899
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 28, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KAVANAGH, KOON, MENG, GALEF -- Multi-Sponsored by
-- M. of A. COOK, GABRYSZAK, HOOPER, PHEFFER, SCHIMEL, THIELE, WEIN-
STEIN, WEISENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Trans-
portation -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said
committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommit-
ted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Transporta-
tion in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- reported and
referred to the Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee -- reported from committee, advanced to a third reading, amended
and ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third read-
ing
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the require-
ment of exercising due care in the operation of a motor vehicle
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Hayley Ng
2 and Diego Martinez law."
3 § 2. Section 1146 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chap-
4 ter 559 of the laws of 1988, is amended to read as follows:
5 § 1146. Drivers to exercise due care. (a) Notwithstanding the
6 provisions of any other law to the contrary, every driver of a vehicle
7 shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any bicyclist, pedestri-
8 an, or domestic animal upon any roadway and shall give warning by sound-
9 ing the horn when necessary. For the purposes of this section, the term
10 "domestic animal" shall mean domesticated sheep, cattle, and goats which
11 are under the supervision and control of a pedestrian.
12 (b) 1. A driver of a motor vehicle who causes physical injury as
13 defined in article ten of the penal law to a pedestrian or bicyclist
14 while failing to exercise due care in violation of subdivision (a) of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10903-10-0
A. 7917--D 2
1 this section, shall be guilty of a traffic infraction punishable by a
2 fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not
3 more than fifteen days or by both such fine and imprisonment.
4 2. If such driver of a motor vehicle causes physical injury while
5 failing to exercise due care in violation of subdivision (a) of this
6 section, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that, as a result
7 of such failure to exercise due care, such person operated the motor
8 vehicle in a manner that caused such physical injury.
9 (c) 1. A driver of a motor vehicle who causes serious physical injury
10 as defined in article ten of the penal law to a pedestrian or bicyclist
11 while failing to exercise due care in violation of subdivision (a) of
12 this section, shall be guilty of a traffic infraction punishable by a
13 fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars or by imprisonment for
14 not more than fifteen days or by required participation in a motor vehi-
15 cle accident prevention course pursuant to paragraph (e-1) of subdivi-
16 sion two of section 65.10 of the penal law or by any combination of such
17 fine, imprisonment or course, and by suspension of a license or regis-
18 tration pursuant to subparagraph (xiv) or (xv) of paragraph b of subdi-
19 vision two of section five hundred ten of this chapter.
20 2. If such driver of a motor vehicle causes serious physical injury
21 while failing to exercise due care in violation of subdivision (a) of
22 this section, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that, as a
23 result of such failure to exercise due care, such person operated the
24 motor vehicle in a manner that caused such serious physical injury.
25 (d) A violation of subdivision (b) or (c) of this section committed by
26 a person who has previously been convicted of any violation of such
27 subdivisions within the preceding five years, shall constitute a class B
28 misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars
29 in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
30 (e) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the court from
31 imposing any other authorized disposition, including a period of commu-
32 nity service.
33 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
34 have become a law.
