Senate Bill S7555

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7555

SPONSOR: KAPLAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring an
official inspection station to post a sign or poster informing customers
that it is not authorized to inspect certain vehicles

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To require Department of Motor Vehicle inspection stations to display a
sign providing notice that the station is prohibited from inspecting
vehicles having a seating capacity of nine or more passengers including
the driver.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill adds a new subdivision c-1 to section 303 of the
Vehicle and Traffic Law to require Department of Motor Vehicles official
inspection stations to prominently display in an area of the station
where the orderly transaction of business of occurs a notice that the
              

inspection station is not authorized to inspect motor vehicles having a
seating capacity of nine or more passengers including the driver.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The 2018 Schoharie crash tragically highlighted failings in the limou-
sine industry. The legislature swiftly responded after the accident with
the enactment of laws to prevent future tragedies; however, there are
still gaps that need to be addressed.

A 2020 report on the crash by the National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) found that in 2016 and 2018, Prestige Limousine, the operator of
the limousine, brought the vehicle in for inspection to a Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV) inspection station. On both occasions, inspections
were conducted by the DMV stations, in violation of state regulations
which require limousines to instead be inspected by the Department of
Transportation (DOT). DMV inspections are required annually, while vehi-
cles falling under the purview of the DOT must be inspected every six
months.

This legislation will require all DMV inspection stations to post a
notice in their establishments stating that they are not authorized to
inspect any vehicles having .a seating capacity of nine or more includ-
ing the driver. The notice shall also state that these vehicles must
instead report to a DOT site for inspections. Requiring this notice will
prevent oversights by inspection stations and will help to ensure that a
tragedy like the Schoharie crash does not happen ever again.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.