Senate Bill S81

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S81

SPONSOR: LIU
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the adjudi-
cation of parking infractions

 
PURPOSE:

The bill would ensure that individuals who are issued a ticket for park-
ing infractions receive a fair and sound process towards resolution.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 provides that the New York state mandatory surcharge is always
collected in instances where a notice of violation is not dismissed.
Violations must be dismissed by a hearing examiner upon the completion
of a hearing based on the merits. A respondent or their representative
may always have the option of a hearing. The examiner shall write out
his or her determination for guilty and not guilty decisions based on
the actual basis in law.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The purpose of this bill is to protect the rights of New York State
citizens during the court and departmental processing of parking infrac-
tions. In most current situations individuals simply pay the fee for the
offense and hope the matter is resolved. In some cases, individuals end
up paying a fine even when the case for the infraction was not well
documented and the basis in law for the guilty decision was unapparent.

Furthermore, respondents to the parking infractions often aren't aware
of the proper procedures and the courts administrating the ruling don't
provide enough information on such matters. This bill would attempt to
rectify some of the situations that arise in these instances in order to
provide everyone an equal and sound footing in dealing with parking
infractions.

This bill also seeks to end the two-tiered justice system that has
developed under the Stipulated Fine Program. Often violations issued to
commercial vehicles are reduced to zero without any consideration of the
merits of the violation. This has resulted in large losses in revenue
for New York State in the collection of the mandatory surcharge and has
also contributed to New York City's continually worsening congestion
problem. Many drivers, knowing that violations will be reduced to zero,
will leave a delivery truck double parked for hours. This practice heav-
ily impedes traffic flow and gives commercial vehicles privileges that
ordinary drivers do not have

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

01/03/24 REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

01/06/23 REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

03/28/22 REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.