STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3025
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 31, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to establish the passenger safety task force on safety for
passengers transported by stretch limousines
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Passenger safety task force. 1. The passenger safety task
2 force (the "task force") is hereby established, and shall consist of
3 twenty members including two co-chairs who will share joint responsibil-
4 ity for carrying out its charge. The chairs shall be the commissioner of
5 the New York state department of motor vehicles, or his or her designee,
6 and the commissioner of the New York state department of transportation,
7 or his or her designee. The additional eighteen members shall include:
8 a. eleven representatives, each of whom shall be an owner or commer-
9 cial operator of stretch limousines from each of the eleven New York
10 state department of transportation regions;
11 b. the superintendent of the New York state police, or his or her
12 designee;
13 c. two members who shall be appointed by the governor, one of whom is
14 a community safety advocate;
15 d. two members who shall be appointed by the temporary president of
16 the senate, one of whom is a community safety advocate; and
17 e. two members who shall by appointed by the speaker of the assembly,
18 one of whom is a community safety advocate.
19 2. Members of the task force shall serve without compensation.
20 3. The task force shall undertake a review of the actions and measures
21 that are needed to ensure safe, adequate, efficient and reliable passen-
22 ger transportation by stretch limousine and shall issue a final report
23 and make recommendations regarding:
24 a. the promotion of enhanced coordination and uniformity between the
25 New York state department of motor vehicles and the New York state
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01679-01-9
S. 3025 2
1 department of transportation regarding the regulation of stretch limou-
2 sines;
3 b. the establishment and adoption of a uniform safety training program
4 for drivers. Such program should include a component which shall train
5 drivers to conduct a safety demonstration with passengers instructing
6 them on the use of seatbelts and any other relevant safety measures that
7 may be deemed useful;
8 c. the appropriateness of extending federal regulations that currently
9 apply to bus drivers to stretch limousines, including, but not limited
10 to extending the requirement for alcohol and drug testing to drivers of
11 vehicles with ten occupants or more;
12 d. establishing a limit on the maximum allowable time frame for
13 stretch limousines to be permitted to operate on state roadways, includ-
14 ing a possible limit of ten years or 350,000 miles;
15 e. the need for additional safety measures, including traffic safety
16 measures such as prohibiting drivers from making U-turns or the use of
17 hands-free devices while operating a stretch limousine except in cases
18 of emergency or for purposes of dispatch, and requiring that certain
19 safety features be installed in these vehicles, including but not limit-
20 ed to requiring multiple anti-intrusion bars in side panels, carbon
21 monoxide monitors, and rear view cameras; and
22 f. increasing the minimum age for drivers to obtain a license to oper-
23 ate stretch limousines.
24 4. The task force shall, within six months of convening, issue a final
25 report and recommendations to the governor, the temporary president of
26 the senate, and the speaker of the assembly.
27 5. For the purposes of this section, "stretch limousine" shall mean
28 any for hire vehicle with a chassis which was manufactured and then
29 altered for the purpose of transporting ten or more occupants, including
30 the driver.
31 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.