STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5915
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 24, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GRAY -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the transportation law,
in relation to establishing mandatory safety belt use, pre-trip safety
briefings, and regular safety belt inspections for commercial passen-
ger vehicles
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "comprehensive passenger safety enhancement act".
3 § 2. Legislative purpose. The legislature finds that enhanced safety
4 measures for passengers in commercially operated vehicles are essential
5 to reduce injuries and fatalities. In alignment with recommendations
6 from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) following the fatal
7 2023 bus and truck collision in Louisville, NY, this act aims to improve
8 passenger safety by mandating seat belt use, conducting pre-trip safety
9 briefings, requiring regular inspections, and enforcing stricter compli-
10 ance measures.
11 § 3. Section 1229-c of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by
12 adding a new subdivision 3-e to read as follows:
13 3-e. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision three-d of this
14 section, no person shall operate a commercial vehicle in this state
15 unless:
16 (i) such person is restrained by a safety belt approved by the commis-
17 sioner, and all passengers are restrained by a safety belt approved by
18 the commissioner;
19 (ii) such person conducts regular inspections of all safety belts in
20 such commercial vehicle to ensure the functionality, accessibility, and
21 proper maintenance of such safety belts. Such person shall maintain
22 records of all safety belt inspections conducted pursuant to this
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09604-01-5
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1 subparagraph and make such records available for review by the depart-
2 ment and the department of transportation;
3 (iii) such person, prior to operating such commercial vehicle,
4 conducts safety briefings to inform passengers of the importance of
5 wearing safety belts, proper use of safety belts, and risks associated
6 with not wearing safety belts.
7 (b) No person shall be a passenger in a commercial vehicle unless such
8 passenger is restrained by a safety belt approved by the commissioner.
9 § 4. Paragraphs (d) and (e) of subdivision 4 of section 1229-c of the
10 vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 434 of the laws of 2024,
11 are amended and two new subdivisions (f) and (g) are added to read as
12 follows:
13 (d) "charter bus" shall mean a bus manufactured or assembled on or
14 after November twenty-eighth, two thousand sixteen transporting passen-
15 gers for compensation in a chartered party; [and]
16 (e) "chartered party" shall mean a group of persons who, pursuant to a
17 common purpose and under a single contract and at a fixed charge, have
18 acquired exclusive use of a bus to travel together as a group to a
19 specific destination or for a particular itinerary either agreed upon in
20 advance or modified after having left the place of origin by such
21 group[.];
22 (f) "commercial vehicle" shall mean any vehicle used to transport more
23 than eight passengers, including the driver, whether or not for compen-
24 sation, and shall include charter buses; and
25 (g) "safety belt" shall mean any restraint system designed to secure
26 an occupant of a vehicle and reduce the risk of injury to such occupant
27 in the event of a collision.
28 § 5. Subdivisions 5 and 9 of section 1229-c of the vehicle and traffic
29 law, as amended by chapter 434 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read
30 as follows:
31 5. Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision three,
32 three-c, three-d, three-e or ten-a of this section shall be punished by
33 a civil fine of up to fifty dollars. Any person who violates the
34 provisions of subdivision one, two, eleven or thirteen of this section
35 shall be punished by a civil fine of not less than twenty-five nor more
36 than one hundred dollars. In any prosecution or proceeding alleging a
37 violation of paragraph (b) of subdivision one or paragraph (c) of subdi-
38 vision two of this section, it shall be an affirmative defense that the
39 passenger subject to the requirements of such paragraphs was restrained
40 by a safety belt and measures more than four feet nine inches in height
41 and/or weighs more than one hundred pounds. In any prosecution or
42 proceeding alleging a violation of paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) of
43 subdivision three-c of this section, it shall be an affirmative defense
44 that such taxi or livery was in violation of subdivision four-b of
45 section three hundred eighty-three of this chapter. In any prosecution
46 or proceeding alleging a violation of subdivision three-d of this
47 section, it shall be an affirmative defense that such charter bus was
48 not equipped with seat belts, or such seat belts were not clearly visi-
49 ble, accessible, or maintained in good working order.
50 9. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision four of this section,
51 (a) the provisions of this section shall not apply to buses other than
52 school buses, except as otherwise provided in [subdivision] subdivisions
53 three-d and three-e of this section and except that the provisions of
54 subdivision three-a of this section shall be applicable to any person
55 operating a charter bus and to charter bus passengers age eight or
56 older, and (b) the provisions of subdivisions one, two, three and
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1 three-a of this section shall not apply to taxis and liveries except
2 that the provisions of subdivision three-a of this section shall be
3 applicable to any person operating a taxi or livery and to taxi and
4 livery passengers age eight or older.
5 § 6. Section 14 of the transportation law is amended by adding a new
6 subdivision 37 to read as follows:
7 37. To develop and distribute, in collaboration with transportation
8 unions and associations, educational materials to promote seat belt use
9 and safe seat belt practices.
10 § 7. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
11 it shall have become a law; provided, however, that if chapter 434 of
12 the laws of 2024 shall not have taken effect on or before such date then
13 sections four and five of this act shall take effect on the same date
14 and in the same manner as such chapter of the laws of 2024, takes
15 effect. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of
16 any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on
17 its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before
18 such effective date.
