NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9415
SPONSOR: Rozic TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in
relation to requiring certain vehicles to be equipped with side under-
ride guards
PURPOSE:
Requires every truck, tractor, and tractor-trailer or semi-trailer
combination registered in New York which meets certain conditions to be
equipped with side under-ride guards while operating in New York City on
highways other than controlled-access highways.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends Section 375 of the vehicle and traffic law
by adding a new subdivision 10-f. This subdivision mandates that certain
vehicles be equipped with side under-ride guards while in operation on
New York City highways, and directs the Commissioner of the NYS Depart-
ment of Motor Vehicles, in consultation with the Commissioner of the NYS
Department of Transportation, to promulgate rules and regulations for
the proper standards and specifications of the side under-ride guards.
Section 2 of the bill states that the act will be repealed if any feder-
al agency or court determines that the act would render New York State
ineligible for the receipt of federal funds.
Section 3 of the bill is a severability clause.
Section 4 of the bill states that the bill shall take effect on the one
hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, howev-
er, that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of
any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on
its effective date is authorized to be made and completed on or before
such effective date; and provided that the commissioner of the depart-
ment of transportation shall notify the legislative bill drafting
commission upon the occurrence of the provisions of section two of this
act in order that the commission may maintain an accurate data base of
the official text of the laws of the state of New York in furtherance of
effecting the provisions of section 44 of the legislative law' and
section 70-b of the public officers law.
JUSTIFICATION:
Accidents involving large vehicles like tractor-trailers are three times
as likely to result in the death of a pedestrian than accidents only
involving passenger vehicles. This bill would ensure that large trucks
driving on the streets of New York City are equipped with features
designed to protect the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehi-
cles.
This bill requires New York State-registered trucks, tractors, and trac-
tor-trailers weighing 26,000 pounds or more to be equipped with side
under-ride guards when operated in New York City. Such guards are
already required in Japan and several European countries, and can great-
ly reduce fatalities by keeping pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehi-
cles from sliding under the side of large trucks.
This bill is modeled after the legislation that was enacted in 2011
requiring the same classification of vehicles to have convex mirrors
installed when traversing the streets of New York City. There is a
provision stating that if this legislation would jeopardize the state's
eligibility for federal funds, it shall be repealed.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill in the Assembly.
FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately,
the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date is author-
ized to be made and completed on or before such effective date; and
provided that the commissioner of the department of transportation shall
notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon the occurrence of
the provisions of section two of this act in order that the commission
may maintain an accurate data base of the official text of the laws of
the state of New York in furtherance of effecting the provisions of
section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the public offi-
cers law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9415
IN ASSEMBLY
April 29, 2014
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROZIC -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
certain vehicles to be equipped with side under-ride guards
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 375 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 10-f to read as follows:
3 10-f. Every truck, tractor, and tractor-trailer or semitrailer combi-
4 nation registered in this state having a gross vehicle weight rating of
5 twenty-six thousand pounds or more, and a conventional cab configuration
6 in which more than half of the engine length is forward of the foremost
7 point of the windshield base and the steering wheel hub is in the
8 forward quarter of the vehicle length, whenever operated within a city
9 having a population of one million or more on highways other than cont-
10 rolled-access highways, shall be equipped with side under-ride guards
11 affixed to the sides of such vehicles in a manner consistent with rules
12 and regulations that shall be promulgated by the commissioner, in
13 consultation with the commissioner of transportation.
14 § 2. This act shall be deemed repealed if any federal agency or any
15 court of competent jurisdiction finally determines that this act would
16 render New York state ineligible for the receipt of federal funds.
17 § 3. Severability. If any clause, sentence, subdivision, paragraph,
18 section or part of this act be adjudged by any court of competent juris-
19 diction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invali-
20 date the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to
21 the clause, sentence, subdivision, paragraph, section or part thereof
22 directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have
23 been rendered.
24 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
25 it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
26 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
27 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date is
28 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14101-01-4
A. 9415 2
1 and provided that the commissioner of the department of transportation
2 shall notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon the occur-
3 rence of the provisions of section two of this act in order that the
4 commission may maintain an accurate data base of the official text of
5 the laws of the state of New York in furtherance of effecting the
6 provisions of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the
7 public officers law.
