Provides that no person sixteen years of age or over shall be a passenger in a motor vehicle unless such person is restrained by a safety belt; further requires all persons four or older but under the age of eight to be restrained by a safety belt when such persons are occupants of a school bus.

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S599A-2011 Actions

• Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION
• Mar 11, 2011: PRINT NUMBER 599A
• Mar 11, 2011: AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO TRANSPORTATION
• Jan 5, 2011: REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

S599A-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S599A

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to
mandatory seat belt use

PURPOSE:
Provides that no person sixteen years of age or over shall be a
passenger in a motor vehicle unless such person is retrained by a
safety belt.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends section 1229-c of the vehicle and traffic law to
require all passengers' in a vehicle to be restrained by safety belt.

EXISTING LAW:
Existing law requires all passengers in the front to be restrained,
but only those under the age of 16 must be restrained in the rear.

JUSTIFICATION:
In 2003, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) traffic crashes were the number one cause of
death for people 4 to 35 years old. From 1975 to 2002, safety belts
prevented an estimated 164,753 fatalities. According to NHTSA's The
Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes 2000, the use of safety
belts saved society $585 billion in medical care, lost productivity,
and other injury-related economic costs (since 1975). Ejection from
the vehicle is one of the most harmful events that can happen to a
person in a crash. In passenger vehicle crashes in which someone died
in 2002, 73 percent of occupants who were completely ejected were
killed. Safety belts are effective in preventing total ejection's. In
2002, in crashes in which someone was killed, only 1 percent of the
occupants reported to have been using restraints were totally
ejected, compared with 30 percent of unrestrained occupants (in
passenger vehicles).

Currently, 19 other states (Arkansas, California, Delaware, Indiana,
Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon,
Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin
and Wyoming and the District of Columbia) have laws which require all
passengers in a vehicle to wear a seat restraint. In states that use
restraints for all passengers the number of deaths and injuries
caused by ejection and side-impact have been reduced.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2009-10: Referred to Transportation (S.42)
2008:    Referred to Transportation (S.5689/A.9594)

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:


This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding
the date on which it shall have become law.

S599A-2011 Text

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

                                   599--A

                         2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                                 (PREFILED)

                               January 5, 2011
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by  Sens. FUSCHILLO, DILAN, LARKIN -- read twice and ordered
    printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Trans-
    portation  -- 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  mandatory
    seat belt use

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


    Section 1. Subdivisions 3 and 13 of section 1229-c of the vehicle  and
  traffic  law,  subdivision 3 as added by chapter 365 of the laws of 1984
  and subdivision 13 as amended by chapter 20 of the  laws  of  2008,  are
  amended to read as follows:

    3.  No  person  shall  operate  a  motor vehicle unless such person is
  restrained by a safety belt approved  by  the  commissioner.  No  person
  sixteen years of age or over shall be a passenger in [the front seat of]
  a  motor  vehicle  unless  such  person  is  restrained by a safety belt
  approved by the commissioner.
    13.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  subdivision  four  of  this
  section,  no  person  shall  operate a school bus for which there are no
  applicable federal school bus safety standards unless all occupants  are
  restrained  by  a safety belt approved by the commissioner or, regarding
  occupants age four or older but under age [seven] EIGHT, are  restrained
  pursuant to subdivision one or two of this section.
    S  2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
  ing the date on which it shall have become a law.


   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD00470-02-1