Requires that no person under four years of age shall be a passenger in a taxi or livery unless such person is restrained by a child restraint system; requires that no person four years of age or older but under age eight shall be a passenger in a taxi or livery unless such person is restrained in an appropriate child restraint system; establishes violations of such provisions shall be punished by a civil fine of up to fifty dollars.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A1626
SPONSOR: Paulin
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
certain child passengers in a taxi or livery to be restrained by a child
restraint system
 
PURPOSE:
To require that children under eight years of age are secured in an
appropriate car seat or booster seat while riding in a taxi or limou-
sine.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends subdivision 3-c of section 1229-c of the vehicle and
traffic law by adding two new paragraphs, (d) and (e), which provide
that no person under four years of age and no person four years of age
or older but under age eight shall be a passenger in a taxi or livery
unless such person is restrained in a child restraint system.
Section two amends Subdivision 5 of section 1229-c of the vehicle and
traffic law by adding paragraph (e) of subdivision three-c of that
section to the listed paragraphs, such that in any prosecution or
proceeding alleging a violation of that paragraph it shall be an affir-
mative defense that the passenger subject to the requirements of such
paragraph was restrained by a safety belt and measures more than four
feet nine inches in height and/or weighs more than one hundred pounds,
and by adding paragraph (d) and paragraph (e) of subdivision three-c of
that section to the listed paragraphs, such that in any prosecution or
proceeding alleging a violation of either of those paragraphs, it shall
be an affirmative defense that such taxi or livery was in violation of
subdivision four-b of section three hundred eighty-three of that chap-
ter.
Section three provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2020 a package of limousine safety measures was enacted, which
required that all passengers over the age of eight must be restrained by
a safety belt before a person can operate a taxi or livery. This bill
will fill the gap for children younger than eight years of age by
requiring them to be restrained by the appropriate child restraint
system while riding in a taxi or livery.
The CDC reports that using age- and size-appropriate car and booster
seats can decrease the likelihood of serious injury and death by 50
percent. New York State has long recognized the importance of car seats
and booster seats by requiring that children under eight are secured in
an appropriate child restraint system when riding as passengers in regu-
lar cars. This bill will ensure that the smallest and most vulnerable
passengers, children under 8 years of age, are in a car seat regardless
of the type of car they ride in.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.6188 of 2021 and 2022, referred to transportation. Same as S.8020 of
2021 and 2022, referred to transportation.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1626
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, COLTON, SEAWRIGHT, THIELE, McDONOUGH --
read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
certain child passengers in a taxi or livery to be restrained by a
child restraint system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3-c of section 1229-c of the vehicle and traf-
2 fic law is amended by adding two new paragraphs (d) and (e) to read as
3 follows:
4 (d) No person under four years of age shall be a passenger in a taxi
5 or livery unless such person is restrained in a child restraint system
6 as defined in paragraph (b) of subdivision four of this section. A
7 police officer shall only issue a summons for a violation of this para-
8 graph to the parent or guardian of such person if the violation by such
9 person occurs in the presence of such person's parent or guardian and
10 where such parent or guardian is eighteen years of age or more. Such
11 summons shall only be issued to such parent or guardian and shall not be
12 issued to the person under four years of age.
13 (e) No person four years of age or older but under age eight shall be
14 a passenger in a taxi or livery unless such person is restrained in an
15 appropriate child restraint system as defined in paragraph (c) of subdi-
16 vision four of this section. A police officer shall only issue a summons
17 for a violation of this paragraph to the parent or guardian of such
18 person if the violation by such person occurs in the presence of such
19 person's parent or guardian and where such parent or guardian is eigh-
20 teen years of age or more. Such summons shall only be issued to such
21 parent or guardian and shall not be issued to the person under eight
22 years of age.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03642-01-3
A. 1626 2
1 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 1229-c of the vehicle and traffic law,
2 as amended by chapter 38 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 5. Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision three,
5 three-c or ten-a of this section shall be punished by a civil fine of up
6 to fifty dollars. Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision
7 one, two, eleven or thirteen of this section shall be punished by a
8 civil fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred
9 dollars. In any prosecution or proceeding alleging a violation of para-
10 graph (b) of subdivision one [or], paragraph (c) of subdivision two, or
11 paragraph (e) of subdivision three-c of this section, it shall be an
12 affirmative defense that the passenger subject to the requirements of
13 such paragraphs was restrained by a safety belt and measures more than
14 four feet nine inches in height and/or weighs more than one hundred
15 pounds. In any prosecution or proceeding alleging a violation of para-
16 graph (b) [or], paragraph (c), paragraph (d) or paragraph (e) of subdi-
17 vision three-c of this section, it shall be an affirmative defense that
18 such taxi or livery was in violation of subdivision four-b of section
19 three hundred eighty-three of this chapter.
20 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
21 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.