STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5562 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE April 12, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HELMING -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to mandatory testing in the event of a motor vehicle collision resulting in injury or death The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Ruby's Law". 2 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 603-a of the vehicle and traffic law, as 3 added by chapter 408 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows: 4 1. In addition to the requirements of section six hundred three of 5 this article, whenever a motor vehicle accident results in serious phys- 6 ical injury or death to a person, and such accident either is discovered 7 by a police officer, or reported to a police officer within five days 8 after such accident occurred, the police shall conduct an investigation 9 of such accident. 10 (a) Such investigation shall be conducted for the purposes of making a 11 determination of the following: the facts and circumstances of the acci- 12 dent; the type or types of vehicles involved, including passenger motor 13 vehicles, commercial motor vehicles, motorcycles, limited use motorcy- 14 cles, off-highway motorcycles, and/or bicycles; whether pedestrians were 15 involved; the contributing factor or factors; whether it can be deter- 16 mined if a violation or violations of this chapter occurred, and if so, 17 the specific provisions of this chapter which were violated and by whom; 18 and, the cause of such accident, where such cause can be determined. 19 (b) When present at the scene of such accident, the investigating 20 officer shall also request that all operators of motor vehicles involved 21 in such accident submit to a field sobriety test as defined in section 22 eleven hundred ninety-four of this chapter provided there are reasonable 23 grounds to believe such motor vehicle operator committed a serious traf- 24 fic violation in the same accident. Upon refusal to submit to such test- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00154-01-7

S. 5562 2 1 ing, such person shall be subject to the provisions of section eleven 2 hundred ninety-four of this chapter. The results of such field sobriety 3 and chemical tests or refusals of such tests shall be included in the 4 police investigation report. For the purposes of this section, "serious 5 traffic violation" shall mean operating a motor vehicle in violation of 6 any of the following provisions of this chapter: articles twenty-three, 7 twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-eight, twenty-nine and 8 thirty and sections five hundred eleven, six hundred and twelve hundred 9 twelve. 10 (c) The police shall forward a copy of the investigation report to the 11 commissioner within five business days of the completion of such report. 12 § 3. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision 2 of section 1194 of the 13 vehicle and traffic law, paragraph (b) as amended by chapter 196 of the 14 laws of 1996 and paragraph (c) as added by chapter 47 of the laws of 15 1988, are amended to read as follows: 16 (b) Report of refusal. (1) If: (A) such person having been placed 17 under arrest or having driven a vehicle involved in an accident result- 18 ing in serious physical injury to, or the death of, another person and, 19 pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section six hundred 20 three-a of this chapter, there are reasonable grounds to believe such 21 person has committed a serious traffic violation as defined by such 22 paragraph; or (B) after a breath test indicates the presence of alcohol 23 in the person's system; or (C) with regard to a person under the age of 24 twenty-one, there are reasonable grounds to believe that such person has 25 been operating a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol in 26 violation of section eleven hundred ninety-two-a of this article; and 27 having thereafter been requested to submit to such chemical test and 28 having been informed that the person's license or permit to drive and 29 any non-resident operating privilege shall be immediately suspended and 30 subsequently revoked, or, for operators under the age of twenty-one for 31 whom there are reasonable grounds to believe that such operator has been 32 operating a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol in violation of 33 section eleven hundred ninety-two-a of this article, shall be revoked 34 for refusal to submit to such chemical test or any portion thereof, 35 whether or not the person is found guilty of the charge for which such 36 person is arrested or detained, refuses to submit to such chemical test 37 or any portion thereof, unless a court order has been granted pursuant 38 to subdivision three of this section, the test shall not be given and a 39 written report of such refusal shall be immediately made by the police 40 officer before whom such refusal was made. Such report may be verified 41 by having the report sworn to, or by affixing to such report a form 42 notice that false statements made therein are punishable as a class A 43 misdemeanor pursuant to section 210.45 of the penal law and such form 44 notice together with the subscription of the deponent shall constitute a 45 verification of the report. 46 (2) The report of the police officer shall set forth reasonable 47 grounds to believe such arrested person or such detained person under 48 the age of twenty-one had been driving in violation of any subdivision 49 of section eleven hundred ninety-two or eleven hundred ninety-two-a of 50 this article, that said person had refused to submit to such chemical 51 test, and that no chemical test was administered pursuant to the 52 requirements of subdivision three of this section. The report shall be 53 presented to the court upon arraignment of an arrested person or a 54 person arrested or issued an appearance ticket for a serious traffic 55 violation committed in the same accident being investigated pursuant to 56 paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section six hundred three-a of this

S. 5562 3 1 chapter, provided, however, in the case of a person under the age of 2 twenty-one, for whom a test was authorized pursuant to the provisions of 3 subparagraph two or three of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, and who 4 has not been placed under arrest for a violation of any of the 5 provisions of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article, such 6 report shall be forwarded to the commissioner within forty-eight hours 7 in a manner to be prescribed by the commissioner, and all subsequent 8 proceedings with regard to refusal to submit to such chemical test by 9 such person shall be as set forth in subdivision three of section eleven 10 hundred ninety-four-a of this article. 11 (3) For persons placed under arrest for a violation of any subdivision 12 of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article or placed under 13 arrest or issued an appearance ticket for a serious traffic violation 14 committed in the same accident being investigated pursuant to paragraph 15 (b) of subdivision one of section six hundred three-a of this chapter, 16 the license or permit to drive and any non-resident operating privilege 17 shall, upon the basis of such written report, be temporarily suspended 18 by the court without notice pending the determination of a hearing as 19 provided in paragraph (c) of this subdivision. Copies of such report 20 must be transmitted by the court to the commissioner and such transmit- 21 tal may not be waived even with the consent of all the parties. Such 22 report shall be forwarded to the commissioner within forty-eight hours 23 of such arraignment. 24 (4) The court or the police officer, in the case of a person under the 25 age of twenty-one alleged to be driving after having consumed alcohol, 26 shall provide such person with a scheduled hearing date, a waiver form, 27 and such other information as may be required by the commissioner. If a 28 hearing, as provided for in paragraph (c) of this subdivision, or subdi- 29 vision three of section eleven hundred ninety-four-a of this article, is 30 waived by such person, the commissioner shall immediately revoke the 31 license, permit, or non-resident operating privilege, as of the date of 32 receipt of such waiver in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 33 (d) of this subdivision. 34 (c) Hearings. Any person whose license or permit to drive or any non- 35 resident driving privilege has been suspended pursuant to paragraph (b) 36 of this subdivision is entitled to a hearing in accordance with a hear- 37 ing schedule to be promulgated by the commissioner. If the department 38 fails to provide for such hearing fifteen days after the date of the 39 arraignment of the arrested person, the license, permit to drive or 40 non-resident operating privilege of such person shall be reinstated 41 pending a hearing pursuant to this section. The hearing shall be limited 42 to the following issues: (1) did the police officer have reasonable 43 grounds to believe that such person had been driving in violation of any 44 subdivision of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article or was 45 driving a vehicle involved in an accident being investigated pursuant to 46 paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section six hundred three-a of this 47 chapter; (2) did the police officer make a lawful arrest of such person 48 or issue a lawful appearance ticket to, or make a lawful arrest of, such 49 person for a serious traffic violation committed in the same accident 50 being investigated pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of 51 section six hundred three-a of this chapter; (3) was such person given 52 sufficient warning, in clear or unequivocal language, prior to such 53 refusal that such refusal to submit to such chemical test or any portion 54 thereof, would result in the immediate suspension and subsequent revoca- 55 tion of such person's license or operating privilege whether or not such 56 person is found guilty of the charge for which the arrest was made or

S. 5562 4 1 the appearance ticket was issued; and (4) did such person refuse to 2 submit to such chemical test or any portion thereof. If, after such 3 hearing, the hearing officer, acting on behalf of the commissioner, 4 finds on any one of said issues in the negative, the hearing officer 5 shall immediately terminate any suspension arising from such refusal. 6 If, after such hearing, the hearing officer, acting on behalf of the 7 commissioner finds all of the issues in the affirmative, such officer 8 shall immediately revoke the license or permit to drive or any non-resi- 9 dent operating privilege in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 10 (d) of this subdivision. A person who has had a license or permit to 11 drive or non-resident operating privilege suspended or revoked pursuant 12 to this subdivision may appeal the findings of the hearing officer in 13 accordance with the provisions of article three-A of this chapter. Any 14 person may waive the right to a hearing under this section. Failure by 15 such person to appear for the scheduled hearing shall constitute a waiv- 16 er of such hearing, provided, however, that such person may petition the 17 commissioner for a new hearing which shall be held as soon as practica- 18 ble. 19 § 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 20 have become a law.