S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                   43

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced by Sen. FUSCHILLO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation

AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to enacting the
  "pedestrian safety enhancement act of 2009"

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "pedestrian
safety enhancement act of 2009".
  S 2. Legislative intent. (a) The legislature hereby finds that:
  (1) Vehicles designed to provide the desirable  benefits  of  reducing
harmful  pollutants  and  operating with greater fuel efficiency include
gasoline-electric hybrid and electric-only vehicles, and in the foresee-
able future may include hydrogen fuel cell and other engine designs that
rely on fuels and technologies other than the gasoline-powered  internal
combustion engine.
  (2)  All  of  the vehicle engine designs specified in paragraph one of
this subdivision, as well as other designs not specified herein, operate
or are likely to operate with virtually no sound being produced  by  the
vehicle.
  (3) The total number of hybrid vehicles sold per year in this state is
growing dramatically, and although the present number of hybrid vehicles
constitutes  a  small  overall  percentage  of vehicles, if this rate of
growth persists, the number of hybrid vehicles will soon equal or exceed
the number of internal combustion engine vehicles in this state.
  (4) Because blind pedestrians cannot locate and evaluate traffic using
their vision, they must listen to traffic to discern its  speed,  direc-
tion,  and other attributes in order to travel safely and independently;
and other people, including pedestrians who are not  blind,  bicyclists,
runners,  and  small  children,  benefit  from multi-sensory information
available from vehicle traffic, including the sound of vehicle engines.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD00947-02-9

S. 43                               2

  (5) When operating on their electric engines, hybrid vehicles sold  in
this  state  cannot  be heard by blind people and others, rendering such
vehicles extremely dangerous when driving on the street,  emerging  from
driveways,  moving  through  parking lots, and in other situations where
pedestrians and vehicles come into proximity with each other.
  (6) Failure of this state to take immediate action assuring that blind
pedestrians  can  hear hybrid and other silent vehicles in all phases of
their operation will lead to pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
  (7) The results described in paragraph six  of  this  subdivision  are
preventable  through  vehicle designs which take into account the multi-
sensory nature of traffic detection and avoidance and require that vehi-
cles emit a minimum level of sound designed to  alert  all  pedestrians,
especially blind pedestrians, to the presence of such vehicles.
  (b)  The  purpose  of this legislation is to establish a minimum sound
level standard for all phases of  vehicle  operation,  which  is  to  be
applicable  to every new vehicle sold in this state and licensed for use
on its public streets and roadways when  sold  and  registered  after  a
specified date.
  S  3.  The  vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
397-c to read as follows:
  S 397-C. MINIMUM MOTOR VEHICLE SOUND STANDARDS.  1.  WITHIN  ONE  YEAR
AFTER  THE  EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION, THE DEPARTMENT, IN CONSULTA-
TION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, SHALL PROMULGATE
RULES AND REGULATIONS ESTABLISHING A MINIMUM SOUND  STANDARD  APPLICABLE
TO  VEHICLES  SOLD  IN  AND  LICENSED TO TRAVEL THE PUBLIC ROADS OF THIS
STATE.
  2. THE STANDARD REQUIRED BY SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION SHALL HAVE
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS:
  A. IN ALL PHASES OF OPERATION, INCLUDING TIMES WHEN A MOTOR VEHICLE IS
AT A FULL STOP, SUCH MOTOR VEHICLE SHALL EMIT AN OMNI-DIRECTIONAL  SOUND
WITH  SIMILAR  SPECTRAL  CHARACTERISTICS  TO  THOSE OF A MODERN INTERNAL
COMBUSTION ENGINE.
  B. THE SOUND SHALL VARY IN A WAY THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE SOUND  OF
VEHICLES  WITH COMBUSTION ENGINES INDICATING THAT THE VEHICLE IS IDLING,
MAINTAINING A CONSTANT SPEED, ACCELERATING, OR DECELERATING.
  C. THE REGULATIONS NEED NOT PRESCRIBE THE  APPARATUS,  TECHNOLOGY,  OR
METHOD TO BE USED BY VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS TO ACHIEVE THE REQUIRED MINI-
MUM SOUND LEVEL.
  3.  WHEN DETERMINING A MINIMUM SOUND LEVEL, THE DEPARTMENT, IN CONSUL-
TATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, SHALL:
  A. REVIEW ALL AVAILABLE  RESEARCH  REGARDING  THE  EFFECT  OF  TRAFFIC
SOUNDS ON PEDESTRIAN SAFETY; AND
  B.  CONSULT  CONSUMER  GROUPS  REPRESENTING INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE BLIND,
OTHER PEDESTRIANS, CYCLISTS, AND ADVOCATES FOR THE SAFETY OF CHILDREN.
  4. NO LATER THAN TWO YEARS AFTER RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  ESTABLISHING
THE MINIMUM SOUND STANDARD REQUIRED BY THIS SECTION HAVE BEEN PROMULGAT-
ED,  ALL  NEW  VEHICLES  SOLD  IN THIS STATE AND LICENSED FOR USE ON THE
PUBLIC ROADS SHALL BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH SUCH STANDARD.
  5. BEGINNING ONE YEAR AFTER THE DATE THAT NEW VEHICLES  SOLD  IN  THIS
STATE  SHALL  COMPLY  WITH  THE  MINIMUM SOUND STANDARD REQUIRED BY THIS
SECTION, VEHICLE SAFETY INSPECTIONS REQUIRED IN THIS STATE SHALL INCLUDE
INSPECTION OF SOUND-EMITTING COMPONENTS TO INSURE THAT  THEY  ARE  FUNC-
TIONING  PROPERLY  IN  ORDER TO PROVIDE MAXIMUM SAFETY TO PEDESTRIANS IN
THIS STATE. VEHICLES THAT FAIL TO MEET THE MINIMUM SOUND STANDARD  SHALL
NOT TRAVEL ON THE ROADS OF THIS STATE.
  S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.