Bill Text: NY S06105 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to establishing first responder safety zones.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION [S06105 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S06105-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          6105
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                      May 11, 2017
                                       ___________
        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.
                                                                   LBD11692-01-7
        S. 6105                             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 two 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.