Classifies operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs by an individual under the age of twenty-one as a per se offense; includes any substance or combination of substances that impair, to any extent, physical or mental abilities in the definition of drugs; allows the odor of cannabis to be the basis for evidence for a violation of section 1192-a of the vehicle and traffic law.
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
5974
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 25, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. REILLY -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the penal law, in
relation to classifying operating a motor vehicle while under the
influence of drugs by an individual under the age of twenty-one as a
per se offense
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 1192-a of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by
chapter 196 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
§ 1192-a. Operating a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol OR
DRUGS; under the age of twenty-one; per se. No person under the age of
twenty-one shall operate a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol
as defined in this section OR DRUGS AS DEFINED IN SECTION ONE HUNDRED
FOURTEEN-A OF THIS CHAPTER. For purposes of this section, a person
under the age of twenty-one is deemed to have consumed alcohol only if
such person has .02 of one per centum or more but not more than .07 of
one per centum by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, as shown by
chemical analysis of such person's blood, breath, urine or saliva, made
pursuant to the provisions of section eleven hundred ninety-four of this
article. Any person who operates a motor vehicle in violation of this
section, and who is not charged with a violation of any subdivision of
section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article arising out of the
same incident shall be referred to the department for action in accord-
ance with the provisions of section eleven hundred ninety-four-a of this
article. Except as otherwise provided in subdivision five of section
eleven hundred ninety-two of this article, this section shall not apply
to a person who operates a commercial motor vehicle. Notwithstanding any
provision of law to the contrary, a finding that a person under the age
of twenty-one operated a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol in
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03305-01-5
A. 5974 2
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