Amd §§237, 238, 242 & 1204, V & T L; amd §19-170, NYC Ad Cd
Relates to the contents and adjudication, of notices of violation returnable to a parking violations bureau in New York city; increases the fine for tractors, trailers, or related vehicles that park on residential streets overnight.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6355
SPONSOR: Cunningham TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the administrative code
of the city of New York, in relation to the contents and adjudication,
of notices of violation returnable to a parking violations bureau, and
to increase the fine for tractors, trailers, or related vehicles that
park on residential streets overnight
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 2 of section 237 of the Vehicle and Traffic
Law (VTL) by increasing the maximum allowable fines for parking trac-
tors, trailers, and tractor-trailer combinations overnight on streets in
New York City's residential neighborhoods. For each offense, the maxi-
mum allowable fine will increase from $250 to $1000. Section 2 also
amends subdivision 8 of section 237 of the VTL to provide that a
bureau's failure to answer within a reasonable period of time all rele-
vant and reasonable inquiries made by a person or the person's attorney
concerning the notice of violation served on the person or to furnish a
copy of the notice of violation would no longer result in the automatic
dismissal of the notice of violation. Instead, the amendment would
authorize a postponement of a hearing on the charges to a date no earli-
er than 30 days after the bureau answers the inquiry or furnishes such
copy.
Section 2 amends subdivision 2 of section 238 of the VTL in two ways.
First, section 2 would require the inclusion of a vehicle's body type on
a notice of violation (hereinafter "summons") only if the vehicle's body
type is indicated on the vehicle's registration sticker. Second, it
would provide that the vehicle's vehicle identification number ("VIN")
may be used in lieu of or in addition to the vehicle's license plate
designation and license plate type on a summons in instances in which a
vehicle lacks a registration plate issued by the Commissioner of Motor
Vehicles or by an equivalent official from another state, territory or
country or where such registration plate is concealed or obscured.
Section 3 amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 2-a of section 238 of the
VTL to provide an additional circumstance in which the license plate
type or expiration date of a vehicle's registration may be omitted from
a summons, namely, when the plates or sticker cannot be located on a
vehicle. Section 3 also authorizes the provision of photographs docu-
menting the poor condition or absence of such plates or sticker.
Section 4 amends subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision 2-a
of section 238 of the VII to conform the statute of limitations for a
hearing examiner to set aside parking violation dismissals due to fraud,
false testimony and/or other misconduct to the statute of limitations
for civil fraud in the Civil Practice Law and Rules ("CPLR"). The amend-
ment would allow a hearing examiner to set aside such dismissals within
the greater of (1) six years from the time of the fraud (i.e., the
dismissal of the summons) or (2) two years from the earlier of the time
of discovery of the fraud or the time when, with reasonable diligence,
the fraud could have been discovered.
Section 5 adds new subdivision 3-a to section 242 of the VTL to require
that an appellant challenging a determination regarding a notice of
violation served on an owner or operator of a commercial vehicle, as
such term is defined in rules of the Department of Transportation (DOT)
of the City, shall either post a bond in the amount of the determination
or pay certain penalties imposed and surcharges levied prior to the
appeals board's conducting the appeal. The penalties specified in new
subdivision 3-a are imposed for camera violations for failing to comply
with traffic-control indications, restrictions for bus lanes and other
bus-operation-related traffic regulations, weight limitations on a
designated portion of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), and speed
restrictions. The surcharges specified in this new subdivision are
levied for parking, stopping and standing violations.
Section 6 amends subdivision 6 of section 242 of the VTL to modify the
requirement that a court or administrative body return to the party
prevailing in an appeal any fines or penalties collected within 30 days
of the entry of judgment. Instead, the amendment would require that the
amount returned should be any fines or penalties collected less any
penalties collected for camera violations for failing to comply with
traffic-control indications, restrictions for bus lanes, weight limita-
tions on the BQE, and speed restrictions to the extent such penalties
were paid after the period to contest the notice of liability had
expired. Section 6 also amends subdivision 6 to authorize a court to
provide additional time for a parking violations bureau to return such
amount where such amount exceeds $1,000.
Section 7 amends subdivisions (a) and (b) of section 1204 of the VTL to
update anachronistic references to the City's Commissioner of Traffic
with references to the Commissioner of Transportation and to authorize
such commissioner to remove tractors, trailers, and tractor-trailers
that have been left unattended on City streets. This section also amends
subdivision b to authorize imposition of a fine for the parking of such
vehicles on City streets of up to $1,000.
Section 8 amends subdivision c of section 19-170 of the Administrative
Code of the City of New York to increase the maximum allowable penalty
for parking tractors, trailers, and tractor-trailers overnight in the
City to $1,000, which would align such subdivision with the amendment to
subdivision 2 of section 237 of the VTL as proposed by section 2 of this
bill.
Section 9 provides that the bill takes effect immediately, except that
section 4 of the bill would take effect and apply to any determination
made on or after first day of the first month succeeding the sixtieth
day after the bill becomes law.
REASONS FOR SUPPORT:
This bill would increase the efficiency of the operations of a parking
violations bureau with respect to enforcing and adjudicating parking
infractions and certain camera violations through several different
ways.
Parking tractors, trailers, and tractor-trailers in residential areas
affects the safety of residents and contributes to noise, pollution, and
traffic. The bill increases the maximum allowable fines for parking such
vehicles overnight in New York City's residential neighborhoods.
Section 237 currently establishes a mechanism for the automatic dismiss-
al of summonses under certain circumstances where a parking violations
bureau fails to respond to inquiries or provide copies of such summons-
es. By eliminating, the applicability of this automatic dismissal
provision to New York City and instead establishing a postponement
provision in its place, the bill strikes a careful balance between
protecting the rights of respondents to obtain information regarding
their summonses while ensuring that this mechanism is not misused.
Section 238 of the VTL currently requires a summons to include the
license plate designation and plate type. This requirement poses
enforcement challenges because a license plate or registration sticker
is sometimes obscured, missing, or otherwise invalid. The bill allows
the vehicle identification number, or VIN, to substitute for a license
plate number and type on a summons when other identifiers are unreliable
or missing. This amendment would facilitate the issuance of valid
summonses because every vehicle has a unique and observable VIN that is
difficult to remove. The VIN, like a license plate number, provides a
means of determining the registrant's name and address for enforcement
purposes.
Section 238 also requires that the body type of a vehicle be indicated
on a summons, even though body types are not standardized or clearly
indicated on registration stickers in the 49 states other than New York.
The requirement to indicate body type significantly handicaps the issu-
ance of summonses to vehicles with out-of-state license plates. From
2014 through 2019, over $15.8 million worth of summonses issued to vehi-
cles registered outside of New York State were dismissed due to an omis-
sion or misdescription in the vehicle's body type. This bill would
rectify this problem by requiring the summons to include body type only
when the body type is indicated on the registration sticker.
The statute of limitations provided by section 238 to set aside the
liability of summonses dismissed due to fraud or other misconduct is
more restrictive than the time period allowed by the CPLR for civil
fraud actions. Subdivision 8 of section 213 of the CPLR contains a
twofold test whereby the action for fraud must be commenced within the
greater of six years from the commission of fraud, or two years from the
time when the fraud was or reasonably could have been discovered.
Section 238 of the VTL specifies only the latter, two-year time period
to notify a vehicle owner of a hearing to determine whether the dismiss-
al was fraudulent. The proposed amendment broadly conforms the statute
of limitations in section 238 to the limitations period in section 213
of the CPLR by allowing, if it would provide more time, six years from
the dismissal to notify the owner of the vehicle of such hearing, facil-
itating the reversal of dismissals obtained by fraud.
The VTL allows persons who are found liable for failure to comply with
traffic lights, bus lane restrictions, weight limitations, and speed
limits as recorded by photo monitoring devices, and those found liable
for certain parking violations, to appeal determinations of liability
without posting bond or paying any amount toward their penalties or
surcharges. This policy encourages frivolous appeals. It also weakens
the impact of a penalty on driver behavior, as a year or more may pass
between the issuance of a summons and the decision on appeal. In New
York City, currently over 260,000 parking and camera violations are
awaiting an appeal hearing. In an effort to address part of this prob-
lem, this bill would require that certain appellants either post bond in
the amount of the determination or pay the applicable amount-a surcharge
of $15 for parking, standing or stopping violations or $30 for
violations related to parking reserved for persons with a disability,
and full penalties other than late penalties, for red-light camera
violations and violations of bus lane restrictions and other bus-opera-
tion-related traffic regulations, speed limits, and weight restrictions
recorded by camera-before the appeal is conducted.
Section 242 of the Vii requires that charges be returned to the prevail-
ing party within 30 days of entry of judgment when such charges have
been overturned by a court or an administrative body. The proposed
amendment to subdivision 6 of section 242 of the VTL provides that the
amount that must be returned to the prevailing party be the amount of
the penalties collected less the amount collected for the camera
violations described in new subdivision 3-a of section 242 of the VTL.
In addition, the proposed amendment would authorize a court to give more
time for the City's Parking Violations Bureau to return such amount to a
party in cases in which the amount exceeds $1,000. Having this addi-
tional time will assist PVB's ability to comply with the requirements of
this section to process and provide accurate refunds in cases where a
court orders the dismissal of large numbers of parking violations to
save time and effort for the litigants involved.
By making it easier for the City to issue valid summonses, reducing
frivolous appeals, increasing certain penalties, and providing more time
for the City to reverse improper dismissals, this bill would facilitate
the enforcement of laws that impact the safety, cleanliness and order of
New York City's streets.
Accordingly, the Mayor urges the earliest possible favorable consider-
ation of this proposal by the Legislature.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023/24: A10567 - referred to transportation
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Generates revenue
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately. except that section 4 of the bill would take effect and
apply to any determination made on or after the first day of the first
month succeeding the sixtieth day after the bill becomes law.
