Requires all persons in a city having a population of one million or more operating a bicycle, electric bicycle or electric scooter to wear a helmet; imposes a civil penalty for violation of such requirement.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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10054
IN SENATE
April 24, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. SUTTON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
all persons in a city having a population of one million or more oper-
ating a bicycle, electric bicycle or electric scooter 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 vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new
2 section 114-f to read as follows:
3 § 114-f. Electric bicycle. Every bicycle equipped with fully operable
4 pedals and an electric motor with an output of less than seven hundred
5 fifty watts whereby such electric motor engages only when the operator
6 is pedaling and disengages or ceases to function when such bicycle's
7 brakes are applied, the operator stops pedaling, or such bicycle
8 achieves a speed of twenty miles per hour or more.
9 § 2. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
10 1242-b to read as follows:
11 § 1242-b. Helmet requirement for operators of a bicycle, electric
12 bicycle or electric scooter in a city having a population of one million
13 or more. 1. This section is applicable to all persons in a city having a
14 population of one million or more for the operation of a bicycle, elec-
15 tric bicycle or electric scooter upon any public highway or any private
16 road open to public motor vehicle traffic, and within a park or other
17 area under the jurisdiction of the commissioner of parks and recreation.
18 2. No person shall operate a bicycle, electric bicycle or electric
19 scooter unless such person is wearing a helmet meeting the standards of
20 the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z 90.4 bicycle helmet
21 standards), the Snell Memorial Foundation's standards for protective
22 headgear for use in bicycling, the American Society of Testing and Mate-
23 rials (ASTM) standards for bicycle helmets, the Safety Equipment Insti-
24 tute standards for bicycle helmets, or the United States Consumer Prod-
25 uct Safety Commission standards for bicycle helmets.
26 3. It is a traffic infraction to violate the provisions of this
27 section punishable, upon conviction, by a civil penalty of not more than
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01037-01-5
S. 10054 2
1 fifty dollars. Such traffic infractions shall be heard and determined in
2 accordance with article two-A of this chapter. For a violation of this
3 section by a person less than sixteen years of age, a hearing officer
4 shall waive the civil penalty for which the parent or guardian of a
5 person who violates the provisions of this section would be liable if
6 such parent or guardian supplies proof that between the date of
7 violation and the appearance date for such violation such parent or
8 guardian purchased or rented a helmet that meets the requirements of
9 this section. A hearing officer may waive the civil penalty for which
10 the parent or guardian of a person who violates the provisions of this
11 section would be liable if such hearing officer finds that due to
12 reasons of economic hardship such parent or guardian was unable to
13 purchase or rent a helmet. A waiver of the civil penalty shall not apply
14 to a second or subsequent conviction under this section.
15 4. The parent or guardian of a person less than sixteen years of age
16 shall be liable for a violation of this section by such person less than
17 sixteen years of age. A summons for a violation of this section by a
18 person less than sixteen years of age shall only be issued to the parent
19 or guardian of such person if the violation occurs in the presence of
20 such parent or guardian and where such parent or guardian is eighteen
21 years of age or more. Such summons shall only be issued to such parent
22 or guardian and shall not be issued to the person less than sixteen
23 years of age.
24 5. The failure of any person to comply with the provisions of this
25 section shall not constitute contributory negligence or assumption of
26 risk, and shall not in any way bar, preclude or foreclose an action for
27 personal injury or wrongful death by or on behalf of such person, nor in
28 any way diminish or reduce the damages recoverable in any such action.
29 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
30 have become a law.
