Senate Bill S7700

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7700

SPONSOR: CARLUCCI
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in
relation to sleep apnea testing for commercial vehicle drivers

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this legislation is to authorize the department of trans-
portation to promulgate rules and regulations relating to drivers with
sleep apnea applying for a commercial driver's license

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one adds a new Section 509-z to the vehicle and traffic law to
authorizing the department of transportation, in consultation with the
department of motor vehicles to promulgate rules and regulations relat-
ing to drivers with sleep apnea applying for a commercial driver's
license

Section two is the effective date.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Trump Administration announced that it was cancelling the implemen-
tation of a federal regulation that would have required testing commer-
cial truck drivers for sleep apnea. The administration painted the deci-
sion as reducing regulations on businesses and called existing
regulations "adequate."

The regulations the Trump Administration has blocked were proposed in
response to a spate of traffic accidents caused by commercial drivers
falling asleep at the wheel. According to the Washington Post, the
federal government blame 10 major truck and rail accidents over the past
two decades on sleep apnea.

The most drastic example of an accident caused by sleep apnea was the
tragic December 2013 derailment of a Metro-North train in the Bronx.
That accident, which took the lives of four people and injured sixty-one
others, was caused by sleep apnea.

In 2009, ten people were killed after plowing into several cars at
sixty-nine miles per hour when the driver fell asleep due to sleep
apnea. In 2011, a truck driver in Virginia fell asleep while driving due
to sleep apnea. The result was the truck overturning on the highway and
killing four people.

The Trump Administration's actions represent a blatant disregard for
public safety. The administration has seen fit to reduce "burdensome"
regulations for businesses at the expense of families on our nation's
roads.

This legislation will counter this reckless move and protect the travel-
ing public on New York's highways by requiring the department of trans-
portation to promulgate rules and regulations relating to the issuance
of commercial driver's licenses to those with sleep apnea.

There is simply too much at stake to risk truck drivers spontaneously
falling asleep at the wheel. New Yorkers deserve to be secure in the
knowledge that the trucks sharing the road with families are alert and
awake.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall become law.