Senate Bill S7876

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7876

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to creating a
pedestrian safety rating system for motor vehicles

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill will require the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehi-
cles (DMV) to create and make publicly accessible via the Internet, a
pedestrian safety rating system for all models of vehicles registered in
New York State

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends the Vehicle and Traffic Law by adding a
new Section 216-b to require the Commissioner of the Department of Motor
Vehicles to create and make publicly accessible via the Internet, a
pedestrian safety rating system for all models of vehicles registered in
              

New York State. This rating system will provide a rating between one and
five stars to reflect the safety of each vehicle model. The rating shall
take into consideration the frequency of collisions involving a bicy-
clist or pedestrian reported for such vehicle model compared to the
total number of registrations of that vehicle model in New York. It
shall also take into consideration safety features of the vehicle model
that the Commissioner of the DMV determines are relevant to pedestrian
and bicyclist safety. Lastly, it shall include any other factors that
the Commissioner of the DMV determines to be relevant to pedestrian and
bicyclist safety.

Section two of the bill sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

More pedestrians and cyclists were killed in the United States in 2018
than in any year since 1990, according to a 2019 National Highway Traf-
fic Safety Administration released in 2019.

New York City is no stranger to this national trend. According to
reporting by the Daily News, twenty-nine bicyclists lost their lives in
2019 on the streets of New York City. Data maintained by the New York
City Department of Transportation indicates that 2019 saw the highest
number of cyclist deaths in New York City in a single year since at
least 1999. Of the twenty-nine deaths, twenty-eight were killed by
motorists and twenty-five were killed by drivers behind the wheel of
large trucks, buses, SUVs or vans. And, of the twenty-nine deaths, eigh-
teen of them were killed in Brooklyn.

But, bicyclists aren't the only ones losing their lives at an alarming
rate on New York's roads. An average of seven times more pedestrians
have died than cyclists since 2013, according to data from the New York
City Department of Transportation. And, as of December 23rd 2019, 117
pedestrians died in car crashes during 2019 compared to 111 total in
2018.

According to reporting in late 2019 by the New York Times, some experts
said that as Americans continue to purchase larger S.U.V.s and trucks,
they may be making themselves safer at the expense of pedestrians and
cyclists. In fact, research has concluded that S.U.V.s and light trucks
are more prone than cars are to run over pedestrians, rather than throw
them up over the hood, making fatalities more likely when they collide.
And because the vehicles usually sit higher off the ground, they may
have larger blind spots, especially through the rear window.

In response to the alarming spike of pedestrian and cyclist deaths
across New York City, the NYC Department of Transportation has announced
that it will soon begin to track the vehicles involved in fatal crashes.
It is critical for the State to supplement that data collection by
analyzing data already maintained by the DMV and to create a transpar-
ent, accessible pedestrian safety rating system for motorists, cyclists
and pedestrians to understand the dangerous trends associated with
certain vehicle models.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:  New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.