Assembly Bill A8977

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Requires investigating officers to field test and test blood alcohol levels of all drivers involved in auto accidents where serious physical injury or death occur

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee


  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

Do you support this bill?

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.
Actions

co-Sponsors

multi-Sponsors

2017-A8977 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S1012
Current Committee:
Assembly Transportation
Law Section:
Vehicle and Traffic Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §603-a, V & T L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2009-2010: A2092, S1091
2011-2012: A1895, S562
2013-2014: A9551, S3769
2015-2016: A77, S844
2019-2020: A542

2017-A8977 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires investigating officers to field test and test blood alcohol levels of all drivers involved in auto accidents where serious physical injury or death occur; imposes rebuttable presumption of guilt for refusals; requires hospital to conduct such test where trauma/injury is considered too severe.

2017-A8977 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8977
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              January 9, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. D'URSO -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Transportation
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
   breathalyzer tests of drivers involved in  accidents  causing  serious
   physical injury or death
 
   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-a of the vehicle  and  traffic
 law,  as added by chapter 408 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as
 follows:
   1. In addition to the requirements of section  six  hundred  three  of
 this article, whenever a motor vehicle accident results in serious phys-
 ical injury or death to a person, and such accident either is discovered
 by  a  police  officer, or reported to a police officer within five days
 after such accident occurred, the police shall conduct an  investigation
 of such accident.
   (A) Such investigation shall be conducted for the purposes of making a
 determination of the following: the facts and circumstances of the acci-
 dent;  the type or types of vehicles involved, including passenger motor
 vehicles, commercial motor vehicles, motorcycles, limited  use  motorcy-
 cles, off-highway motorcycles, and/or bicycles; whether pedestrians were
 involved;  the  contributing factor or factors; whether it can be deter-
 mined if a violation or violations of this chapter occurred, and if  so,
 the specific provisions of this chapter which were violated and by whom;
 and, the cause of such accident, where such cause can be determined.
   (B)  SUCH  INVESTIGATION  OF  AN ACCIDENT SCENE SHALL ALSO INCLUDE THE
 ADMINISTRATION OF FIELD SOBRIETY AND A CHEMICAL TEST  OF  BLOOD  ALCOHOL
 LEVEL TO ALL MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVERS INVOLVED IN SUCH ACCIDENT. THE INVES-
 TIGATING  POLICE  OFFICERS  MUST  INFORM  THE  DRIVERS  OF  SUCH TESTING
 REQUIREMENTS AND CONDUCT THEM  IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH  THE  PROVISIONS  OF
 SECTION  ELEVEN  HUNDRED  NINETY-FOUR  OF  THIS  CHAPTER. THE REFUSAL TO
 SUBMIT TO SUCH TESTING SHALL  CONSTITUTE  A  REBUTTABLE  PRESUMPTION  OF
 GUILT  AND  SUCH  REFUSAL  SHALL  BE  DOCUMENTED  IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
 PROVISIONS OF SECTION ELEVEN HUNDRED NINETY-FOUR  OF  THIS  CHAPTER.  IF
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.