Bill Text: NY S06531 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires every person operating a bicycle in the city of New York to wear a helmet.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-20 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S06531 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S06531-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6531 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE June 1, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. FELDER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring all persons operating a bicycle to wear a helmet The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended 2 by adding a new section 10-157.2 to read as follows: 3 § 10-157.2 Helmet requirement for persons operating bicycles. a. Defi- 4 nitions. For the purposes of this section: 5 (1) The term "bicycle" shall mean a two or three wheeled device upon 6 which a person or persons may ride, propelled by human power through a 7 belt, a chain or gears, with such wheels in a tandem or tricycle. 8 (2) The term "public highway" means any highway, road, street, road- 9 way, sidewalk, avenue, alley, public place, public driveway or any other 10 public way. 11 (3) The term "wearing a helmet" means having a helmet of good fit 12 fastened securely upon the head with the helmet straps. 13 b. This section is applicable to the operation of a bicycle upon any 14 public highway or any private road open to public motor vehicle traffic, 15 and within a park or other area under the jurisdiction of the commis- 16 sioner of parks and recreation. 17 c. No person shall operate a bicycle unless such person is wearing a 18 helmet meeting the standards of the American National Standards Insti- 19 tute (ANSI Z 90.4 bicycle helmet standards), the Snell Memorial Founda- 20 tion's standards for protective headgear for use in bicycling, the Amer- 21 ican Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for bicycle 22 helmets, the Safety Equipment Institute standards for bicycle helmets, 23 or the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission standards for 24 bicycle helmets. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11867-01-7S. 6531 2 1 d. It is a traffic infraction to violate the provisions of this 2 section punishable, upon conviction, by a civil penalty of not more than 3 fifty dollars. Such traffic infractions shall be heard and determined in 4 accordance with article 2-A of the vehicle and traffic law. For a 5 violation of this section by a person less than sixteen years of age, a 6 hearing officer shall waive the civil penalty for which the parent or 7 guardian of a person who violates the provisions of this section would 8 be liable if such parent or guardian supplies proof that between the 9 date of violation and the appearance date for such violation such parent 10 or guardian purchased or rented a helmet that meets the requirements of 11 this section. A hearing officer may waive the civil penalty for which 12 the parent or guardian of a person who violates the provisions of this 13 section would be liable if he or she finds that due to reasons of 14 economic hardship such parent or guardian was unable to purchase or rent 15 a helmet. A waiver of the civil penalty shall not apply to a second or 16 subsequent conviction under this section. 17 e. The parent or guardian of a person less than sixteen years of age 18 shall be liable for a violation of this section by such person less than 19 sixteen years of age. A summons for a violation of this section by a 20 person less than sixteen years of age shall only be issued to the parent 21 or guardian of such person if the violation occurs in the presence of 22 such parent or guardian and where such parent or guardian is eighteen 23 years of age or more. Such summons shall only be issued to such parent 24 or guardian and shall not be issued to the person less than sixteen 25 years of age. 26 f. The failure of any person to comply with the provisions of this 27 section shall not constitute contributory negligence or assumption of 28 risk, and shall not in any way bar, preclude or foreclose an action for 29 personal injury or wrongful death by or on behalf of such person, nor in 30 any way diminish or reduce the damages recoverable in any such action. 31 g. The department of health and mental hygiene shall distribute infor- 32 mational materials through the department's health information program, 33 which shall include information explaining the hazards of operating 34 bicycles without protective headgear. These informational materials 35 shall be printed in multiple languages and shall be made available to 36 any member of the public upon request. 37 h. The police department and the department of parks and recreation 38 shall enforce the provisions of this section. 39 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 40 have become a law.