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A08643 Summary:

A08643 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A8643
 
SPONSOR: Ortiz

 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the general business law, in relation
to the sale of electronically motorized boards
 
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: The purpose of this bill is to
increase public safety with regard to the use of hoverboards.
 
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
 
This bill adds a new section 391-u to the general business law to:
 
* Establish a 15 year old age minimum for operation of hoverboards;
 
* Define hoverboards as "electronically motorized boards" which have

electric propulsion systems with a maximum speed of 20 miles per
hour;and
 
* Create regulations governing the sale and safety standards for all
hoverboards sold in New York through the Department of Motor Vehicles
until a federal agency promulgates rules and regulations.
 
 
JUSTIFICATION:  Amid recent reports of fires and serious safety prob-
lems with the new rechargeable mechanized scooter known as the hover-
board, this legislation serves to increase public safety and will
require safe riding conditions, age restrictions, and state agency
authority to regulate the sale of the boards. The reported malfunctions
of hoverboards have prompted other states, including California, to take
action on the regulation of hoverboard use. New York City has also taken
steps to prohibit the boards from use on sidewalks and in airports.
Additionally, the federal Public Safety Commission has begun investi-
gations into the explosions of overcharged boards.
 
 

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1st after enactment

A08643 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          8643
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     January 7, 2016
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. ORTIZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Consumer Affairs and Protection
 
        AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation  to  the  sale  of
          electronically motorized boards
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
     2  391-u to read as follows:
     3    § 391-u. Sale of electronically motorized boards.    1.  No  electron-
     4  ically  motorized  board  manufactured  or assembled on or after January
     5  first, two thousand seventeen shall be sold in this  state  unless  such
     6  electronically  motorized  board is manufactured or assembled in compli-
     7  ance with rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner pursuant
     8  to subdivision two of this section.
     9    2. The commissioner of the department of motor vehicles shall  promul-
    10  gate  rules  and  regulations pertaining to safety standards and warning
    11  labels that shall govern the manufacture, assembly and  distribution  of
    12  electronically  motorized boards until such time as the federal consumer
    13  product safety commission or any  successor  commission  or  agency  may
    14  promulgate such rules and regulations.
    15    3. An electronically motorized board shall only be sold to an individ-
    16  ual  having  attained  the  age  of fifteen. An electronically motorized
    17  board shall be operated only by a person who is fifteen years of age  or
    18  older.
    19    4.  For  the purposes of this section, the term "electronically motor-
    20  ized board" shall mean any wheeled device that has a floorboard designed
    21  to be stood upon when riding that is not greater than sixty inches  deep
    22  and  eighteen inches wide, is designed to transport only one person, and
    23  has an electric propulsion  system  averaging  less  than  one  thousand
    24  watts,  the  maximum speed of which, when powered solely by a propulsion
    25  system on a paved level surface, is no more than twenty miles per  hour.
    26  The device may be designed to also be powered by human propulsion.
    27    §  2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
    28  ing the date on which it shall have become  a  law;  provided,  however,
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
        A                                                          LBD13372-02-5
        A. 8643                             2
 
     1  that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
     2  rule  or  regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
     3  effective date is authorized and directed to be made and completed on or
     4  before such date.