Relates to authorizing forms of licenses to include the blood type of the licensee at the option of such person; authorizes the commissioner of motor vehicles, in consultation with the commissioner of health, to promulgate any rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this act.
BILL NUMBER:A9958
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation
to authorizing forms of licenses to include blood types
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To provide persons holding New York
State Driver's Licenses with the opportunity to have blood type informa-
tion included on the driver's license.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: The bill would amend §504 of the Vehicle and
Traffic Law to authorize the form of a driver's license to include
adequate space for a licensee's blood type to be recorded, if the licen-
see so chooses. It also authorizes the Commissioner of the Department of
Motor Vehicles to consult with the Commissioner of the Department of
Health on the inclusion of such blood type information.
JUSTIFICATION: Time is of the essence when emergency medical staff are
treating injuries of accident victims. One way to save valuable time is
to ensure that a person's blood type is known to rescuers and medical
personnel as soon as possible. The ABO blood group system, discovered in
1901, contains 4 blood types: A, B, AB and O. The Rh, or rhysus, system
classifies blood into Rh-positive and Rh-negative categories. ABO incom-
patibilities are the major cause of fatal transfusion reactions; Rh
anti-bodies develop as an adverse response after transfusion. Typing and
cross matching blood ensures a safe match, but takes time and effort
that may not be spared in an active life saving situation. Type 0, which
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
9958
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 19, 2010
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BENEDETTO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to authorizing
forms of licenses to include blood types
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 504 of the vehi-
cle and traffic law, as separately amended by chapters 568 and 639 of
the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Every license or renewal thereof shall contain a distinguishing
mark and adequate space upon which an anatomical gift, pursuant to
section forty-three hundred ten of the public health law, by the licen-
see shall be recorded and shall contain such other information and shall
be issued in such form as the commissioner shall determine; PROVIDED,
HOWEVER THAT EVERY LICENSE OR RENEWAL THEREOF SHALL CONTAIN A DISTIN-
GUISHING NUMBER OR MARK AND ADEQUATE SPACE UPON WHICH THE LICENSEE'S
BLOOD TYPE MAY BE RECORDED AT THE OPTION OF THE LICENSEE, AND SHALL
CONTAIN SUCH OTHER INFORMATION AND SHALL BE ISSUED IN SUCH FORM AS THE
COMMISSIONER, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH, SHALL
DETERMINE; provided, however, every license or renewal thereof issued to
a person under the age of twenty-one years shall have prominently
imprinted upon it the statement "UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE" in notably
distinctive print or format; provided further, however, every license or
renewal thereof issued to a person making an anatomical gift shall have
prominently printed upon the front of such license or renewal thereof
the statement "ORGAN DONOR" in notably distinctive print or format. The
commissioner shall not require fees for the issuance of such licenses or
renewals thereof to persons under twenty-one years of age or to persons
making an anatomical gift which are different from the fees required for
the issuance of licenses or renewals thereof to persons twenty-one years
of age or over or to persons not making an anatomical gift.
S 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date is authorized to be made on or before
such effective date.
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