STATE OF NEW YORK
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6105
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 11, 2017
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Introduced by Sen. BROOKS -- 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 establishing
first responder safety zones
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 141-c to read as follows:
3 § 141-c. First responder safety zone. The area or space officially set
4 apart within a roadway adjacent to any facility or parking area where
5 fire vehicles, police vehicles, ambulances, or emergency ambulance
6 service vehicles are stationed for use in responding to emergencies, and
7 which is protected, marked or indicated by lines or other markings on
8 the surface and by adequate signs as to be plainly visible at all times
9 while set apart as a safety zone.
10 § 2. Section 1144-a of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by
11 adding a new subdivision (d) to read as follows:
12 (d) During an active emergency, every operator of a motor vehicle
13 shall yield the right of way to any fire vehicle, police vehicle, ambu-
14 lance, or emergency ambulance service vehicle displaying one or more
15 red, white, blue or green lights pursuant to the provisions of subdivi-
16 sion forty-one of section three hundred seventy-five of this chapter and
17 traveling within or entering a first responder safety zone. A first
18 violation of this provision shall be punishable by a fine of not more
19 than five hundred dollars. A second violation of this provision shall be
20 punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars.
21 § 3. The section heading and subdivision (a) of section 1151 of the
22 vehicle and traffic law, subdivision (a) as amended by chapter 159 of
23 the laws of 2002, are amended to read as follows:
24 Pedestrians' right of way in crosswalks and first responder safety
25 zone. (a) When traffic-control signals are not in place or not in oper-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11692-01-7
S. 6105 2
1 ation the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right of way, slowing down
2 or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway
3 within a crosswalk or first responder safety zone on the roadway upon
4 which the vehicle is traveling, except that any pedestrian crossing a
5 roadway at a point where a pedestrian tunnel or overpass has been
6 provided shall yield the right of way to all vehicles.
7 § 4. Paragraph (b) of section 1180 of the vehicle and traffic law, as
8 amended by chapter 173 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as
9 follows:
10 (b) Except as provided in subdivision (g) of this section and except
11 when a special hazard exists that requires lower speed for compliance
12 with subdivision (a) of this section or when maximum speed limits have
13 been established as hereinafter authorized, no person shall drive a
14 vehicle at a speed in excess of fifty-five miles per hour, provided that
15 no person shall drive a vehicle at a speed in excess of fifteen miles
16 per hour within a first responder safety zone.
17 § 5. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
18 1118 to read as follows:
19 § 1118. Signs and markings in first responder safety zones. First
20 responder safety zones shall be indicated with signage at each end of
21 such safety zones, alerting motorists to the requirement that the right
22 of way be yielded to pedestrians and emergency vehicles, and with white
23 hash marks painted on the road surface between the curbs or, in the
24 absence of curbs, between the edges of the traversable roadway.
25 § 6. Paragraph b of subdivision two of section 510 of the vehicle and
26 traffic law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (xviii) to read as
27 follows:
28 (xviii) for a period of one year where the holder is convicted of a
29 third or subsequent violation of section one thousand one hundred
30 forty-four-a of this chapter.
31 § 7. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
32 it shall have become a law, and shall apply to violations committed on
33 and after such date.