Add §607, amd §§606 & 227, V & T L; add §202-m, Lab L
Enacts the "crash victims bill of rights"; requires accident reports to be delivered to victims of accidents or their next of kin; requires victim impact statements to be delivered at traffic infraction hearings by injured parties or their next of kin; requires employers to grant leave of absence to employees delivering a victim impact statement at a traffic infraction hearing; directs the superintendent of financial services to conduct a study and complete a report on certain automobile crash information.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A967
SPONSOR: Glick TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the labor law, in
relation to enacting the crash victims bill of rights
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 names the bill the Crash Victims Bill of Rights
Section 2 adds a new section 607 to the vehicle and traffic law ensures
free and timely copies of all crash reports to crash victims and next of
kin of all persons killed as a result of a crash.
Section 3 amends section 606 of the vehicle and traffic law to require
crash reports involving persons under the age of 18 are prioritized for
processing.
Section 4 amends subdivision 1 of section 227 of the vehicle and traffic
law by directing the commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles to
prescribe procedures for the presentation of victim impact statements by
individuals injured in a crash, and by next of kin for persons killed in
a crash at DMV hearings.
Section 5 adds a new section 202-n to the labor law to ensure that
employees are granted a leave of absence in order to provide an impact
statement at DMV hearings.
Section 6 directs the Superintendent of Financial Services to conduct a
study and prepare a report examining the unmet resource needs of crash
victims and their families.
Section 7 sets a 180 day effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Over 3,000 people are killed or seriously injured in a traffic crash
every year in New York, in addition to several thousand injuries that do
not rise to the level or serious injury. Survivors and their families
can be devastated in the aftermath of a traffic crash as they deal with
law enforcement, insurance companies, medical care, loss of income,
counseling,_ bereavement, and other complications. Survivors of traffic
crashes and their next of kin deserve additional rights in the aftermath
of a crash to help them begin recovering from the traumatic ordeal. This
legislation will do so by ensuring all crash victims and next of kin
are; given free and timely copies of all crash reports; afforded the
ability to provide an impact statement at DMV adjudications; and
provided with a leave of absence from their employer for the purposes of
providing an impact statement at DMV adjudications.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A.1901 Referred to Transportation
2022: A.9152 Referred to Transportation
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
967
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GLICK, SIMON, GIBBS, SEAWRIGHT, GONZALEZ-ROJAS,
CRUZ, DE LOS SANTOS, DAVILA, R. CARROLL, EPSTEIN, DINOWITZ, BURDICK,
CUNNINGHAM, LEVENBERG, SIMONE, RAGA, LUNSFORD, KELLES -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the labor law, in
relation to enacting the crash victims bill of rights
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "crash
2 victims bill of rights".
3 § 2. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
4 607 to read as follows:
5 § 607. Reports; injured or killed persons. 1. Any report of an acci-
6 dent required under this article or under the rules and regulations of
7 the commissioner, in which any person is killed or injured shall be
8 provided, free of charge:
9 (a) to all persons injured as a result of such accident;
10 (b) to the next of kin of all persons killed or seriously injured as a
11 result of such accident; and
12 (c) to the parent or guardian of all persons under the age of eighteen
13 injured as a result of such accident.
14 2. Reports provided pursuant to this section shall be made available
15 electronically.
16 3. Reports provided pursuant to this section shall be provided within
17 twenty-four hours of processing by the department.
18 4. The commissioner shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are
19 necessary to effectuate the provisions of this section.
20 § 3. Section 606 of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter
21 429 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02657-01-5
A. 967 2
1 § 606. Processing of required reports. The commissioner, when process-
2 ing reports of accidents filed pursuant to this article, and when
3 distributing reports pursuant to section six hundred seven of this arti-
4 cle, shall give priority to reports involving persons under the age of
5 eighteen, serious physical injury (as defined in subdivision ten of
6 section 10.00 of the penal law), or death.
7 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 227 of the vehicle and traffic law, as
8 amended by chapter 337 of the laws of 1970, is amended to read as
9 follows:
10 1. a. Every hearing for the adjudication of a traffic infraction, as
11 provided by this article, shall be held before a hearing officer
12 appointed by the commissioner. The burden of proof shall be upon the
13 people, and no charge may be established except by clear and convincing
14 evidence. The commissioner may prescribe, by rule or regulation, the
15 procedures for the conduct of such hearings.
16 b. The commissioner shall prescribe, by rule or regulation, procedures
17 for presentation of victim impact statements by individuals injured
18 during the course of a traffic infraction, or in the case of a death
19 resulting from such traffic infraction, from the deceased's next of kin,
20 at hearings for the adjudication of a traffic infraction under this
21 section.
22 § 5. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 202-m to read as
23 follows:
24 § 202-m. Leave of absence for traffic hearings; impact statements. 1.
25 For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the
26 following meanings:
27 (a) "Employee" means a person who performs services for hire for an
28 employer, for an average of twenty or more hours per week, and includes
29 all individuals employed at any site owned or operated by an employer,
30 but shall not include an independent contractor.
31 (b) "Employer" means a person or entity that employs twenty or more
32 employees on at least one site and includes an individual, corporation,
33 partnership, association, nonprofit organization, group of persons,
34 county, town, city, school district, public authority or other govern-
35 mental subdivision of any kind.
36 2. An employer shall grant a leave of absence to an employee providing
37 an impact statement at a traffic infraction adjudication hearing under
38 section two hundred twenty-seven of the vehicle and traffic law, and who
39 is eligible to do so pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated
40 pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of such section. The length
41 of such leave shall not exceed four work hours, unless otherwise agreed
42 to by such employer.
43 3. An employer shall not retaliate against an employee for requesting
44 or obtaining a leave of absence as provided by this section for the
45 purpose of providing a victim impact statement at a traffic infraction
46 adjudication hearing under section two hundred twenty-seven of the vehi-
47 cle and traffic law.
48 4. The provisions of this section shall not prevent an employer from
49 granting a leave of absence to an employee providing a victim impact
50 statement at a traffic infraction adjudication hearing under section two
51 hundred twenty-seven of the vehicle and traffic law in addition to leave
52 allowed under any other provision of law. The provisions of this section
53 shall not affect an employee's rights with respect to any other employee
54 benefit otherwise provided by law.
55 § 6. 1. The superintendent of financial services is hereby authorized
56 and directed to conduct a study and prepare a report examining the unmet
A. 967 3
1 resource needs facing persons injured in automobile crashes and next of
2 kin to persons killed in automobile crashes within the past three years
3 for which data and information is available. The superintendent of
4 financial services may request, and shall receive upon request, data and
5 information from insurers that provide no-fault or liability auto cover-
6 age, health insurance coverage, and from any other entities and relevant
7 sources to meet the purposes of the study. Such data and information
8 shall include but not be limited to:
9 (a) The number of persons injured in an automobile crash that filed a
10 no-fault claim;
11 (b) The number of persons injured in an automobile crash that filed
12 for a liability claim;
13 (c) The number of persons injured in an automobile crash that received
14 a no-fault award;
15 (d) The number of persons injured in an automobile crash that received
16 a liability award;
17 (e) The number of persons who filed for a no-fault death benefit on
18 behalf of a person killed in an automobile crash;
19 (f) The number of persons who filed a liability claim on behalf of a
20 person killed in an automobile crash;
21 (g) The number of persons who received a no-fault award on behalf of a
22 person killed in an automobile crash;
23 (h) The number of persons who received a liability award on behalf of
24 a person killed in an automobile crash;
25 (i) Aggregate data on no-fault and liability awards paid to persons
26 injured in an automobile crash, or to awards paid to persons on behalf
27 of a person killed in an automobile crash; and
28 (j) Any other data and information the superintendent of financial
29 services deems relevant to meet the purposes of the study required to be
30 completed under this section.
31 2. The report required to be prepared under subdivision one of this
32 section shall be submitted to the governor, the temporary president of
33 the senate and the speaker of the assembly on or before December 31,
34 2025. The superintendent of financial services shall include in such
35 report an extrapolation of any discernable trends in collected data, and
36 any recommendations the superintendent of financial services believes
37 would improve access to resources for automobile crash victims and their
38 families.
39 3. The superintendent of financial services may consult with any state
40 or local office, agency, or department and request information from any
41 such entity that is relevant and material to the completion of the study
42 and report required to be completed under this section.
43 § 7. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
44 it shall have become a law.
