S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 294 2011-2012 Regular Sessions I N A S S E M B L Y (PREFILED) January 5, 2011 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requirements for accident and investigation reports THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 603 of the vehicle and traffic 2 law, as amended by chapter 432 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read 3 as follows: 4 1. Every police or judicial officer to whom an accident resulting in 5 injury to a person shall have been reported, pursuant to the foregoing 6 provisions of this chapter, shall immediately investigate the facts, or 7 cause the same to be investigated, and report the matter to the commis- 8 sioner forthwith; provided, however, that the report of the accident is 9 made to the police officer or judicial officer within five days after 10 such accident. Every coroner, or other official performing like func- 11 tions, shall likewise make a report to the commissioner with respect to 12 all deaths found to have been the result of motor vehicle or motorcycle 13 accidents. Such report shall include information on the width and 14 length of trucks, tractors, trailers and semitrailers, which are in 15 excess of ninety-five inches in width or thirty-four feet in length and 16 which are involved in such accidents, whether such accident took place 17 in a work area and whether it was being operated with an overweight or 18 overdimension permit. Such report shall distinctly indicate and include 19 information as to whether the inflatable restraint system inflated and 20 deployed. Nothing contained in this subdivision shall be deemed to 21 preclude a police officer from reporting any other accident which, in 22 the judgment of such police officer, would be required to be reported to 23 the commissioner by the operator of a vehicle pursuant to section six 24 hundred five of this article. ANY REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE COMMISSIONER EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01562-01-1 A. 294 2 1 PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION BY A POLICE OR JUDICIAL OFFICER SHALL INCLUDE 2 AN ENUMERATION OF ANY CONVICTIONS ON THE OPERATING RECORD OF THE OPERA- 3 TOR OR OPERATORS OF EACH MOTOR VEHICLE INVOLVED IN SUCH ACCIDENT FOR ANY 4 VIOLATION OF THIS ARTICLE, TITLE SEVEN OF THIS CHAPTER, OR PROVISIONS OF 5 THE PENAL LAW FOR WHICH A VIOLATION OF TITLE SEVEN OF THIS CHAPTER IS AN 6 ESSENTIAL ELEMENT. 7 S 2. Subdivision 1 of section 603-a of the vehicle and traffic law, 8 as added by chapter 408 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 1. In addition to the requirements of section six hundred three of 11 this article, whenever a motor vehicle accident results in serious phys- 12 ical injury or death to a person, and such accident either is discovered 13 by a police officer, or reported to a police officer within five days 14 after such accident occurred, the police shall conduct an investigation 15 of such accident. Such investigation shall be conducted for the purposes 16 of making a determination of the following: the facts and circumstances 17 of the accident; the type or types of vehicles involved, including 18 passenger motor vehicles, commercial motor vehicles, motorcycles, limit- 19 ed use motorcycles, off-highway motorcycles, and/or bicycles; whether 20 pedestrians were involved; the contributing factor or factors; whether 21 it can be determined if a violation or violations of this chapter 22 occurred, and if so, the specific provisions of this chapter which were 23 violated and by whom; and, the cause of such accident, where such cause 24 can be determined. The police shall forward a copy of the investigation 25 report to the commissioner within five business days of the completion 26 of such report. ALL INVESTIGATION REPORTS SUBMITTED TO THE COMMISSIONER 27 PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION SHALL INCLUDE AN ENUMERATION OF ANY CONVICTIONS 28 ON THE OPERATING RECORD OF THE OPERATOR OR OPERATORS OF EACH MOTOR VEHI- 29 CLE INVOLVED IN SUCH ACCIDENT FOR ANY VIOLATION OF THIS ARTICLE, TITLE 30 SEVEN OF THIS CHAPTER, OR PROVISIONS OF THE PENAL LAW FOR WHICH A 31 VIOLATION OF TITLE SEVEN OF THIS CHAPTER IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT. 32 S 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 33 have become a law.