STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5562--A 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 -- commit- tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom- mitted to said committee 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. Subdivision 1 of section 603-a of the vehicle and traffic 2 law, as added by chapter 408 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as 3 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 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00154-02-7

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

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

S. 5562--A 4 1 tion of such person's license or operating privilege whether or not such 2 person is found guilty of the charge for which the arrest was made or 3 the appearance ticket was issued; and (4) did such person refuse to 4 submit to such chemical test or any portion thereof. If, after such 5 hearing, the hearing officer, acting on behalf of the commissioner, 6 finds on any one of said issues in the negative, the hearing officer 7 shall immediately terminate any suspension arising from such refusal. 8 If, after such hearing, the hearing officer, acting on behalf of the 9 commissioner finds all of the issues in the affirmative, such officer 10 shall immediately revoke the license or permit to drive or any non-resi- 11 dent operating privilege in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 12 (d) of this subdivision. A person who has had a license or permit to 13 drive or non-resident operating privilege suspended or revoked pursuant 14 to this subdivision may appeal the findings of the hearing officer in 15 accordance with the provisions of article three-A of this chapter. Any 16 person may waive the right to a hearing under this section. Failure by 17 such person to appear for the scheduled hearing shall constitute a waiv- 18 er of such hearing, provided, however, that such person may petition the 19 commissioner for a new hearing which shall be held as soon as practica- 20 ble. 21 § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 22 have become a law.