Amd §2336, add §5110, Ins L; amd §§301 & 375, add §322, V & T L; add §4550, CPLR; add §60.80, CP L
 
Provides for a 5% automobile insurance premium reduction for non-commercial passenger motor vehicles equipped with an operating dashboard camera; establishes means for certification of the installation of such camera; establishes civil penalties for false certification of such installation; provides for insurer review during claims settlement of the images from dashboard cameras; provides for the certification of the installation of operating dashboard cameras during the annual motor vehicle inspection; directs the commissioner of motor vehicles to establish standards for dashboard cameras; provides for the introduction as evidence of dashboard camera images into evidence in civil and criminal proceedings.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A4341
SPONSOR: Hyndman
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the insurance law, the vehicle and traffic law, the
civil practice law and rules, and the criminal procedure law, in
relation to dashboard cameras
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Provides for a 5% automobile insurance premium reduction for non-commer-
cial vehicles equipped with an operating dashboard camera
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new subsection (i) to Section 2236 of the Insurance
Law, for the purposes of establishing a discount of five percent off of
the base rates of automobile liability insurance, when a customer has
installed a dashboard camera in their motor vehicle. Subsection (ii)
provides for civil penalties that may be waged by the insurer in the
case of false certifications made by customers claiming this discount.
Section 2 amends the Insurance Law by adding a new Section 5110, for the
purposes of requiring an insurer to review dashboard camera footage
following the receipt of a claim. The section makes clear that dashboard
camera images are not to be deemed dispositive of a claim, and are to be
viewed in the totality of the circumstances involved.
Section 3 amends Subdivision (c) of Section 301 of the Vehicle and Traf-
fic Law by adding a new paragraph 4, which sets forth new inspection
standards that allow the presence of a dashboard camera to be reported
during the course of a driver's routine emissions testing.
Section 4 amends the Vehicle and Traffic Law by adding a new Section 322
that sets forth a procedure through which an insurer may request records
pertaining to the installation of dashboard cameras from the Department
of Motor Vehicles, in order to assess the viability of an insured's
request for, or maintenance of, the 5% premium discount.
Section 5 amends Section 375 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law by adding a
new Subsection 52, which allows the Commissioner of the Department of
Motor Vehicles the ability to promulgate rules and regulations pertain-
ing to the safe use of dashboard cameras, including the size and
location these devices within motor vehicles.
Section 6 amends the C.P.L.R. by adding a new Section 4549, which
permits the admissibility of dashboard camera images as proof of the
occurrence or event depicted in such images, in civil legal proceedings.
Section 7 amends the Criminal Procedure Law by adding a new Section
60.80, which permits the admissibility of dashboard cameras as proof of
the occurrence or event depicted in such images, in criminal legal
proceedings.
Section 8 sets forth the effective date of the law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York has a long history of promoting motor vehicle safety by offer-
ing mandatory discounts on drivers' car insurance, including rates that
take into effect automatic safety belts, airbags, and most recently, the
completion of a defensive driving course. As technology continues to
progress, growing evidence has supported the value of dashboard cameras
installed in cars, and other motor vehicles. In fact, several European
nations have already begun instituting discounts on car insurance rates
for drivers that take advantage of this technology.
Though New York is a 'no-fault jurisdiction' for the purposes of typical
accidents involving motor vehicles, it remains the case that civil liti-
gation often occurs in the context of "serious injuries," as well as
hit-and-run collisions. Beyond damage to property, hit and run accidents
cause serious injuries and often times, result in pedestrian fatalities.
Though on the decline, 131 pedestrian deaths resulted from traffic acci-
dents 2014. There is good reason to believe that dashboard cameras could
play an important role in solving these crimes; while investigators may
not be able to retrieve a suspect's camera, it is entirely possible that
these incidents could be caught on tape by other vehicles that are near-
by.
Additionally, reports indicate a rise in insurance fraud schemes that
involve reckless driving by motorists. Dashboard cameras not only
provide protection to drivers in such cases where evidence could demon-
strate their lack of liability, but these cameras may also play an
important role in enriching criminal prosecutions for fatal hit-and-run
incidents.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to all policies
issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended on or after such date.
Provided, however, that, effective immediately, any and all rules and
regulations and any other measures necessary to implement the provisions
of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be
completed on or before such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4341
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. HYNDMAN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Insurance
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, the vehicle and traffic law, the
civil practice law and rules, and the criminal procedure law, in
relation to dashboard cameras
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2336 of the insurance law is amended by adding a
2 new subsection (i) to read as follows:
3 (i) (1) Any schedule or rating plan for non-commercial private passen-
4 ger insurance shall provide for a five percent reduction in premium
5 charges for bodily injury liability, property damage liability, personal
6 injury protection, medical payments and collision coverage with respect
7 to automobiles equipped with an operating dashboard camera that complies
8 with the rules and regulations of the commissioner of motor vehicles
9 promulgated pursuant to subdivision fifty-five of section three hundred
10 seventy-five of the vehicle and traffic law. Each insurer may establish
11 such requirements as it shall deem necessary for the submission of proof
12 and certification that such a dashboard camera has been installed in the
13 insured automobile and that such camera is in operating condition. The
14 superintendent shall, in consultation with the commissioner of motor
15 vehicles, promulgate rules and regulations.
16 (2) In any instance in which an insured is receiving the premium
17 reduction provided in paragraph one of this subsection and the insured
18 has falsely certified that his or her automobile is equipped with an
19 operating dashboard camera or the dashboard camera is no longer in oper-
20 ating condition while the automobile is being operated, the insurer may
21 impose a civil penalty upon such insured equal to the premium reduction
22 granted for the dashboard camera for one year or for the period such
23 reduction was wrongfully granted, whichever shall be shorter. Further-
24 more, an insurer may thereafter deny the provision of such premium
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04052-01-3
A. 4341 2
1 reduction regardless of whether a suitable dashboard camera is installed
2 in the automobile in the future.
3 (3) Every insurer shall include in each certification completed by an
4 insured pursuant to this subsection, a statement of the imposition of
5 the civil penalty authorized by paragraph two of this subsection in the
6 event such certification is false. In addition each such certification
7 shall inform the insured of his or her duty to maintain the dashboard
8 camera in working condition at all times.
9 § 2. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 5110 to read
10 as follows:
11 § 5110. Review of dashboard camera images. (a) Every insurer in the
12 settlement of any claim involving a motor vehicle or motor vehicles,
13 shall review any available images from a dashboard camera or dashboard
14 cameras installed in any of the vehicles to which such claim relates.
15 Thereafter, each such insurer shall submit certification of such review
16 to the superintendent.
17 (b) The images from a dashboard camera shall be considered based on
18 the totality of the circumstances of a claim, and such images shall not
19 be deemed to be dispositive, but shall be considered as any other
20 evidence relating to a claim.
21 § 3. Subdivision (c) of section 301 of the vehicle and traffic law is
22 amended by adding a new paragraph 4 to read as follows:
23 (4)(i) During the course of each safety inspection, a certified
24 inspector shall determine whether a dashboard camera is installed in the
25 motor vehicle. In the event that such a camera is installed in a motor
26 vehicle, he or she shall determine whether the dashboard camera complies
27 with the rules and regulations of the commissioner promulgated pursuant
28 to subdivision fifty-five of section three hundred seventy-five of this
29 title and whether such camera is in operating condition while the motor
30 vehicle is being operated.
31 (ii) In the event a motor vehicle does not have a dashboard camera,
32 has a camera which does not comply with the rules of the commissioner,
33 or such camera is not in operating condition, the certified inspector
34 shall include a notation, that the motor vehicle does not have an oper-
35 ating dashboard camera, upon the certificate of inspection provided to
36 the owner and the department.
37 (iii) In the event a motor vehicle has an operating dashboard camera,
38 which complies with the rules and regulations of the commissioner, the
39 certified inspector shall issue a certification thereof to the owner and
40 the department.
41 § 4. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
42 322 to read as follows:
43 § 322. Dashboard camera records. Upon the request of any insurer issu-
44 ing owner's policies of liability insurance, the commissioner shall
45 forward to such insurer a copy of any report, relating to a dashboard
46 camera installed in a motor vehicle insured by the insurer, which the
47 commissioner possesses pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (c) of
48 section three hundred one of this title.
49 § 5. Section 375 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a
50 new subdivision 55 to read as follows:
51 55. Dashboard cameras. The commissioner shall, by rules and regu-
52 lations, establish standards for the size, location and use of dashboard
53 cameras installed in motor vehicles. The commissioner may maintain a
54 list of those dashboard cameras approved by him or her as conforming to
55 the specifications and requirements established for such cameras.
A. 4341 3
1 § 6. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
2 section 4550 to read as follows:
3 § 4550. Dashboard camera images. Any image or images produced by a
4 dashboard camera shall be admissible as proof of the occurrence or event
5 depicted in such image or images.
6 § 7. The criminal procedure law is amended by adding a new section
7 60.80 to read as follows:
8 § 60.80 Dashboard camera images.
9 Any image or images produced by a dashboard camera shall be admissible
10 as proof of the occurrence or event depicted in such image or images.
11 § 8. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
12 ing the date on which it shall have become a law and section one of this
13 act shall apply to all policies issued, renewed, modified, altered or
14 amended on or after such date. Effective immediately, any and all rules
15 and regulations and any other measures necessary to implement the
16 provisions of this act on its effective date are authorized to be
17 completed on or before such date.