S842-2011 - NY Senate Open Legislation - Requires police accident reports to indicate whether the use of a mobile phone contributed to such vehicle accident

Requires police accident reports to indicate whether a mobile phone was in use at the time of such vehicle accident.

Sponsor: STAVISKY
Law Section: Vehicle and Traffic Law / Law: Amd S603, V & T L

S842-2011 Actions

May 7, 2012: ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
May 2, 2012: 2ND REPORT CAL.
May 1, 2012: 1ST REPORT CAL.676
Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION
Jun 24, 2011: COMMITTED TO RULES
Jun 14, 2011: ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
Jun 13, 2011: 2ND REPORT CAL.
Jun 7, 2011: 1ST REPORT CAL.1052
Jan 5, 2011: REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

S842-2011 Meetings

Transportation: Jun 7, 2011, Transportation: May 1, 2012

S842-2011 Calendars

Floor Calendar: May 2, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 7, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 8, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 9, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 14, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 16, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 21, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 22, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 23, 2012

S842-2011 Votes

VOTE: COMMITTEE VOTE: - Transportation - Jun 7, 2011

Ayes (15): Fuschillo, Johnson, Maziarz, McDonald, Robach, Zeldin, Dilan, Adams, Diaz, Kennedy, Perkins, Smith, Squadron, Stavisky, Valesky
Ayes W/R (3): Nozzolio, Ranzenhofer, Young
Nays (1): Larkin

VOTE: COMMITTEE VOTE: - Transportation - May 1, 2012

Ayes (15): Fuschillo, Larkin, Maziarz, McDonald, Nozzolio, Robach, Zeldin, Dilan, Adams, Diaz, Kennedy, Perkins, Smith, Squadron, Stavisky
Ayes W/R (2): Ranzenhofer, Young
Nays (1): Johnson
Excused (1): Valesky

S842-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S842

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring accident
reports to indicate whether a mobile phone
was in use at the time of
the accident

PURPOSE:
To allow police, the Department of Motor Vehicles and private
researchers the ability to gather information more effectively
regarding the relationship between automobile accidents and the use
of mobile telephones in New York State.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
This bill amends subdivision 1 of
section 603 of the vehicle and traffic law as amended by chapter 432
of the laws of 1997. This bill provides that every automobile
accident report prepared by a police or judicial officer distinctly
indicates whether a mobile telephone was in use at the time of said
accident.

JUSTIFICATION:
Individuals distracted by the use of a mobile phone
while operating a motor vehicle have become an increasing cause of
automobile accidents on the roads of this state. Past reports from
the University of Toronto and the Rochester Institute of Technology
have determined that driving while using a mobile phone increases the
risk of having an accident by 400% and drivers with mobile phones run
an eleven-fold risk of being killed behind the wheel. As use of
mobile phones increases, the accident statistics have increased as
well. While New York has outlawed the use of hand held mobile phones
while driving, this legislation will allow the state to determine the
efficacy of the cell phone ban legislation.

The severity of this situation is obscured by the fact that there are
no accurate statistics for determining the correlation between mobile
phones, and automobile accidents in New York State. The Rochester
Institute of Technology report relied on data recorded in Oklahoma,
which requires the reporting of the presence of mobile phones in
vehicles involved in an accident. This legislation would require that
the same information be included in official accident reports in New
York State. In addition, the report must state whether it is known or
suspected that a mobile phone was a cause of such accident. As a
result, the police, the Department of Motor Vehicles and private
researchers will have a more accurate source of data regarding
accidents in which mobile phones were involved in New York State.
Such information may be used to support proposed measures to help
effectively prevent more automobile accidents.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Previously introduced.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.


EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 180 days from the date it
shall have become law, provided, however, that any rules or
regulations necessary for the implementation of the provisions of
this act on its effective date shall be promulgated on or before such
date.

S842-2011 Text

 S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 
                                           842
 2011-2012 Regular Sessions
 I N  SENATE
 (PREFILED)
 January 5, 2011
 
 Introduced  by Sen. STAVISKY -- 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  requiring
 accident  reports to indicate whether a mobile phone was in use at the
 time of the accident
 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

Section  1.  Subdivision  1  of section 603 of the vehicle and traffic
 law, as amended by chapter 432 of the laws of 1997, is amended  to  read
 as follows:

 1.  Every  police or judicial officer to whom an accident resulting in
 injury to a person shall have been reported, pursuant to  the  foregoing
 provisions  of this chapter, shall immediately investigate the facts, or
 cause the same to be investigated, and report the matter to the  commis
 sioner  forthwith; provided, however, that the report of the accident is
 made to the police officer or judicial officer within  five  days  after
 such  accident.  Every  coroner, or other official performing like func
 tions, shall likewise make a report to the commissioner with respect  to
 all  deaths found to have been the result of motor vehicle or motorcycle
 accidents.   Such report shall include  information  on  the  width  and
 length  of  trucks,  tractors,  trailers  and semitrailers, which are in
 excess of ninety-five inches in width or thirty-four feet in length  and
 which  are  involved in such accidents, whether such accident took place
 in a work area and whether it was being operated with an  overweight  or
 overdimension permit.  Such report shall distinctly indicate and include
 information  as  to whether the inflatable restraint system inflated and
 deployed. SUCH REPORT SHALL DISTINCTLY INDICATE AND INCLUDE  INFORMATION
 AS  TO  WHETHER A MOBILE TELEPHONE, AS SUCH TERM IS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH
 (A) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION TWELVE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE-C  OF  THIS
 CHAPTER,  WAS  IN USE AT THE TIME OF SAID ACCIDENT. Nothing contained in
 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD03656-01-1
        S. 842                              2
 this subdivision shall be deemed  to  preclude  a  police  officer  from
 reporting any other accident which, in the judgment of such police offi
 cer,  would be required to be reported to the commissioner by the opera
 tor of a vehicle pursuant to section six hundred five of this article.
 

S  2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day from
 the date it shall have become a law, provided,  however,  any  rules  or
 regulations  necessary  for the implementation of the provisions of this
 act on its effective date shall be promulgated on or before such date.

S842-2011: Requires police accident reports to indicate whether the use of a mobile phone contributed to such vehicle accident