Bill Text: NY S01761 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relates to establishing first responder safety zones and setting speed limits in such safety zones.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-22 - referred to transportation [S01761 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S01761-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relates to establishing first responder safety zones and setting speed limits in such safety zones.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-22 - referred to transportation [S01761 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S01761-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1761 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 16, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BROOKS -- 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 establishing first responder safety zones The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new 2 section 141-c to read as follows: 3 § 141-c. First responder safety zone. The area or space officially set 4 apart within a roadway adjacent to any facility or parking area where 5 fire vehicles, police vehicles, ambulances, or emergency ambulance 6 service vehicles are stationed for use in responding to emergencies, and 7 which is protected, marked or indicated by lines or other markings on 8 the surface and by adequate signs as to be plainly visible at all times 9 while set apart as a safety zone. 10 § 2. Section 1144-a of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by 11 adding a new subdivision (d) to read as follows: 12 (d) During an active emergency, every operator of a motor vehicle 13 shall yield the right of way to any fire vehicle, police vehicle, ambu- 14 lance, or emergency ambulance service vehicle displaying one or more 15 red, white, blue or green lights pursuant to the provisions of subdivi- 16 sion forty-one of section three hundred seventy-five of this chapter and 17 traveling within or entering a first responder safety zone. A first 18 violation of this provision shall be punishable by a fine of not more 19 than five hundred dollars. A second violation of this provision shall be 20 punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars. 21 § 3. The section heading and subdivision (a) of section 1151 of the 22 vehicle and traffic law, subdivision (a) as amended by chapter 159 of 23 the laws of 2002, are amended to read as follows: 24 Pedestrians' right of way in crosswalks and first responder safety 25 zone. (a) When traffic-control signals are not in place or not in oper- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06852-01-9S. 1761 2 1 ation the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right of way, slowing down 2 or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway 3 within a crosswalk or first responder safety zone on the roadway upon 4 which the vehicle is traveling, except that any pedestrian crossing a 5 roadway at a point where a pedestrian tunnel or overpass has been 6 provided shall yield the right of way to all vehicles. 7 § 4. Paragraph (b) of section 1180 of the vehicle and traffic law, as 8 amended by chapter 173 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 (b) Except as provided in subdivision (g) of this section and except 11 when a special hazard exists that requires lower speed for compliance 12 with subdivision (a) of this section or when maximum speed limits have 13 been established as hereinafter authorized, no person shall drive a 14 vehicle at a speed in excess of fifty-five miles per hour, provided that 15 no person shall drive a vehicle at a speed in excess of fifteen miles 16 per hour within a first responder safety zone. 17 § 5. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section 18 1118 to read as follows: 19 § 1118. Signs and markings in first responder safety zones. First 20 responder safety zones shall be indicated with signage at each end of 21 such safety zones, alerting motorists to the requirement that the right 22 of way be yielded to pedestrians and emergency vehicles, and with white 23 hash marks painted on the road surface between the curbs or, in the 24 absence of curbs, between the edges of the traversable roadway. 25 § 6. Paragraph b of subdivision 2 of section 510 of the vehicle and 26 traffic law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (xviii) to read as 27 follows: 28 (xviii) for a period of one year where the holder is convicted of a 29 third or subsequent violation of section one thousand one hundred 30 forty-four-a of this chapter. 31 § 7. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 32 it shall have become a law, and shall apply to violations committed on 33 and after such date.