Expands the offenses of vehicular assault and vehicular manslaughter to include injury or death caused while operating a motor vehicle after repeated violation of certain vehicle and traffic offenses or with a suspended license.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6952
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 27, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LENTOL -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the offenses of vehicular
assault and vehicular manslaughter
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 120.03 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 732
2 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 120.03 Vehicular assault in the second degree.
4 A person is guilty of vehicular assault in the second degree when he
5 or she causes serious physical injury to another person, and either:
6 (1) operates a motor vehicle in violation of subdivision two, three,
7 four or four-a of section eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehicle and
8 traffic law or operates a vessel or public vessel in violation of para-
9 graph (b), (c), (d) or (e) of subdivision two of section forty-nine-a of
10 the navigation law, and as a result of such intoxication or impairment
11 by the use of a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs or of alco-
12 hol and any drug or drugs, operates such motor vehicle, vessel or public
13 vessel in a manner that causes such serious physical injury to such
14 other person, or
15 (2) operates a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of
16 more than eighteen thousand pounds which contains flammable gas, radio-
17 active materials or explosives in violation of subdivision one of
18 section eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehicle and traffic law, and
19 such flammable gas, radioactive materials or explosives is the cause of
20 such serious physical injury, and as a result of such impairment by the
21 use of alcohol, operates such motor vehicle in a manner that causes such
22 serious physical injury to such other person, or
23 (3) operates a snowmobile in violation of paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of
24 subdivision one of section 25.24 of the parks, recreation and historic
25 preservation law or operates an all terrain vehicle as defined in para-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10383-01-9
A. 6952 2
1 graph (a) of subdivision one of section twenty-two hundred eighty-one of
2 the vehicle and traffic law and in violation of subdivision two, three,
3 four, or four-a of section eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehicle and
4 traffic law, and as a result of such intoxication or impairment by the
5 use of a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol and
6 any drug or drugs, operates such snowmobile or all terrain vehicle in a
7 manner that causes such serious physical injury to such other person[.],
8 or
9 (4) having been convicted within the preceding eighteen months of any
10 two violations of sections five hundred nine, five hundred eleven, elev-
11 en hundred ten, eleven hundred eleven, eleven hundred eighty, eleven
12 hundred eighty-a, eleven hundred ninety-two, eleven hundred ninety-two-a
13 or twelve hundred twelve of the vehicle and traffic law, he or she oper-
14 ates a motor vehicle in violation of any of the aforementioned sections
15 and in doing so causes physical injury to another person, or
16 (5) knowingly has in effect four or more suspensions, imposed on at
17 least four separate dates for failure to answer, appear or pay a fine
18 pursuant to subdivision three of section two hundred twenty-six or
19 subdivision four of section five hundred ten of the vehicle and traffic
20 law, and while operating a motor vehicle causes physical injury to
21 another person.
22 If it is established that the person operating such motor vehicle,
23 vessel, public vessel, snowmobile or all terrain vehicle caused such
24 serious physical injury while unlawfully intoxicated or impaired by the
25 use of alcohol or a drug, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption
26 that, as a result of such intoxication or impairment by the use of alco-
27 hol or a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol and
28 any drug or drugs, such person operated the motor vehicle, vessel,
29 public vessel, snowmobile or all terrain vehicle in a manner that caused
30 such serious physical injury, as required by this section.
31 Vehicular assault in the second degree is a class E felony.
32 § 2. Subdivisions 5 and 6 of section 120.04 of the penal law, subdivi-
33 sion 5 as amended and subdivision 6 as added by chapter 496 of the laws
34 of 2009, are amended and two new subdivisions 7 and 8 are added to read
35 as follows:
36 (5) has previously been convicted of violating any provision of this
37 article or article one hundred twenty-five of this title involving the
38 operation of a motor vehicle, or was convicted in any other state or
39 jurisdiction of an offense involving the operation of a motor vehicle
40 which, if committed in this state, would constitute a violation of this
41 article or article one hundred twenty-five of this title; [or]
42 (6) commits such crime while operating a motor vehicle while a child
43 who is fifteen years of age or less is a passenger in such motor vehicle
44 and causes serious physical injury to such child[.];
45 (7) having been convicted within the preceding eighteen months of any
46 two violations of sections five hundred nine, five hundred eleven, elev-
47 en hundred ten, eleven hundred eleven, eleven hundred eighty, eleven
48 hundred eighty-a, eleven hundred ninety-two, eleven hundred ninety-two-a
49 or twelve hundred twelve of the vehicle and traffic law, he or she oper-
50 ates a motor vehicle in violation of any of the aforementioned sections
51 and in doing so causes serious physical injury to another person; or
52 (8) knowingly has in effect four or more suspensions, imposed on at
53 least four separate dates for failure to answer, appear or pay a fine
54 pursuant to subdivision three of section two hundred twenty-six or
55 subdivision four of section five hundred ten of the vehicle and traffic
A. 6952 3
1 law, and while operating a motor vehicle causes serious physical injury
2 to another person.
3 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 125.13 of the penal law, as amended by
4 chapter 496 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
5 (2) commits such crime while knowing or having reason to know that:
6 (a) his or her license or his or her privilege of operating a motor
7 vehicle in another state or his or her privilege of obtaining a license
8 to operate a motor vehicle in another state is suspended or revoked and
9 such suspension or revocation is based upon a conviction in such other
10 state for an offense which would, if committed in this state, constitute
11 a violation of any of the provisions of section eleven hundred ninety-
12 two of the vehicle and traffic law; or (b) his or her license or his or
13 her privilege of operating a motor vehicle in the state or his or her
14 privilege of obtaining a license issued by the commissioner of motor
15 vehicles is suspended or revoked and such suspension or revocation is
16 based upon either a refusal to submit to a chemical test pursuant to
17 section eleven hundred ninety-four of the vehicle and traffic law or
18 following a conviction for a violation of any of the provisions of
19 section eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehicle and traffic law, or (c)
20 having been convicted within the preceding eighteen months of any two
21 violations of sections five hundred nine, five hundred eleven, eleven
22 hundred ten, eleven hundred eleven, eleven hundred eighty, eleven
23 hundred eighty-a, eleven hundred ninety-two, eleven hundred ninety-two-a
24 or twelve hundred twelve of the vehicle and traffic law, he or she oper-
25 ates a motor vehicle in violation of any of the aforementioned sections
26 and in doing so causes the death of another person, or (d) knowingly has
27 in effect four or more suspensions, imposed on at least four separate
28 dates for failure to answer, appear or pay a fine pursuant to subdivi-
29 sion three of section two hundred twenty-six or subdivision four of
30 section five hundred ten of the vehicle and traffic law, and while oper-
31 ating a motor vehicle causes death of another person;
32 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
33 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
